Whether it’s traveling, interning, working, volunteering, or studying abroad, Harvard’s Class of 2018 is never standing still.
Here’s a brief inside look at the unforgettable summers in store for eight amazing rising sophomores!
Anna Alsop
Harvard ‘18
“At college, I’m a local- I live less than half an hour away from Cambridge and know Boston like the back of my hand. So in terms of location, my first year at Harvard didn’t take me very far out of my comfort zone. Feeling very ready to branch out, I planned a summer almost completely abroad. For the first three weeks, I went on tour to Brazil with the Harvard Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, visiting São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro, and Curitiba. We collaborated with universities and professional choirs, putting on concerts in churches, university theaters, and cultural centers, and fit in a good amount of sight-seeing on the side. Tour was a tremendous bonding and cultural experience- I made so many meaningful memories and I hope to stay in touch with the friends I made in Brazil.
After Brazil, I have a 9-hour layover in Amsterdam (where I’m hoping to escape the airport and walk through the city), and then I continue on to Taipei. I’m working as an SAT tutor with the Ivy-Way program, helping Taiwanese high school students improve their test scores in hopes of going to college in the US. During my 7 weeks working in Taipei, I also have some free time to explore the city, hit up the night markets, and practice my Mandarin. At the end of August I return home for a week of rest before I go back to school for the fall semester, hopefully a little wiser and with tons of interesting stories to tell my friends when I see them!”
Filip Bujo Bujaroski
Harvard ‘18
“This summer I am interning in Doubledutch in San Francisco. I am on the engineering team and I will work on a database migration project for the next few weeks. What made me choose Doubledutch was basically the openness of the people who interviewed me. They tried to show me how incredibly positive the environment at Doubledutch, something that turned out to be true. I find it very interesting that people at the company are dressed up in T-shirts and jeans instead of more official clothing. It’s my first time on the West Coast and I am incredibly excited to experience the startup culture and the vibe of San Francisco in general.”
Shing-Shing Cao
Harvard ‘18
“This summer, I’m working as a paralegal intern in Children’s Rights, a non-profit in Manhattan that focuses on foster care reform! We enact change in state foster care systems through class action lawsuits – where we basically sue the failing foster care system, and, as part of the settlement agreement, propose a multitude of policy changes and new standards. For example, we might sue a foster care system for a slow response rates to reports of abuse and require in the settlement that 95% of cases of reported abuse be investigated within the next 24 hours. We then monitor the system, usually for years afterwards, until they fully implement the new policy.
When I’m not working, you can probably find me at an art gallery, a donut shop, or just wandering the streets of New York.”
Max Frank
Harvard ‘18
“This summer, I’m working in the Boston Public School Office of Human Capital. I enjoyed the exposure to education policy that I got through classes and research projects this past year, and I look forward to combining my interest in education with my love of legislative politics in my work at BPS. So far, I have spent most of my time designing a legislative strategy to make recently-implemented hiring practices more sustainable, thereby making the continued pursuit of the highest quality teachers more sustainable in the long run.”
Humphrey Obuobi
Harvard ‘18
“My name is Humphrey Obuobi; currently, I’m in that awkward phase between a freshman and a sophomore as an undergraduate studying Bioengineering and Computer Science at Harvard. Both during the school year and over the summer, I work at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, a Harvard University-based institute focusing on using biomaterials to create a more sustainable world. In my work with the Lewis Group (http://lewisgroup.seas.harvard.edu/), I take advantage of the properties of certain materials and interface them with cells through a process referred to as 3D bioprinting. The technology and field are rather new, but have immense potential for drug testing or even organ replacement once fully-developed.
In my free time, I’m having a blast exploring Boston and hanging out with friends while also improving my coding skills for personal projects. The summer’s barely begun, but I’m extremely excited to see what it has in store.”
Patrick Pan
Harvard ‘18
“This summer, I’ll be studying in Paris as part of a Harvard Summer Program covering Biology and the Evolution of Paris as a Smart City. The concept of a Smart City is based on the application of technology to urban development, creating an interdisciplinary field that can be further tied to many concepts in biology. For the next two months, we’ll be working in groups of four to develop solutions to improve the city of Paris in conjunction with students from the Parisian Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity. Our work is based on knowledge we’re learning from classes in biology and urban development as well as our understanding of French culture and society—which we’re all picking up by having an awesome time in Paris!”
Mirza Uddin
Harvard ‘18
“I’m currently interning for two different venture capital firms based in Tokyo. One focuses primarily on investing into emerging tech-start-ups, whereas the other is more concerned with managing only a few large companies and takes almost exclusive control of the start-ups it puts money into. I’ve always been attracted to the field of finance to an extent, but I didn’t want to go though the traditional route of just entering an I-bank on Wall Street. This seemed like a great opportunity, since not only am I getting to learn a lot about the sector, but also getting to explore Japan at the same time.
It’s been an amazing experience so far and Tokyo is everything I had ever imagined. My work ends in the evening, which leaves the night to visit new places and try some great Japanese food. However, my Japanese is not that great, so it’s sometimes really difficult to get around, but Google Translate sometimes helps save the day.
I’m living with ten roommates in my condo (yes I know that’s a lot of people but it’s also a huge condo). It’s honestly really fun learning about their lives in Japan and ofcourse partying on weekends. I plan on heading out and seeing more of Japan in the coming weeks (Kyoto and Osaka are at the top of my list) and trying some more of the absolutely delicious Kobe beef. Definitely visit Japan if you ever get the chance; I guarantee you’ll love it. Sayonara (さよなら)!”
Shana Yang
Harvard ‘18
“My freshman summer consists of a healthy balance of relaxing in my familiar home and creating new experiences. As of now, I’m spending time at home, which I call Guam, with my family and friends, but in July and August, I’ll be in China, specifically Guangzhou and Beijing, to teach elementary students English and high school students about education reform based on a self-made curriculum.”