Internship: KenSAP
Location: Kenya
Program: Summer Social Impact Internship (SSII) Fund
Concentration: Operations Research & Financial Engineering

Tell me about the project you did last summer.
I worked at KenSAP, a nonprofit organization in Iten, Kenya. It's a college access program, it helps low-income, high-achieving Kenyan and refugee students prepare for and apply to United States universities.

How do you think this opportunity will impact your career trajectory?
I am pretty interested in how nonprofit organizations work. I would love to found one some day or work closely with one in the future. It was very interesting to see the structure of them up close and work with the directors and the founders of the program.

What kind of personal impact did this experience leave on you?
The connections with the kids - that's what made it for us. Outside of the classroom we're still hanging out with them 24 hours a day, in the bunk rooms and running with them in the morning, eating breakfast and sharing stories around a fire. Culturally, it was pretty cool to step outside of our comfort zone for a bit and bond with them formally and informally.

What was one of the most memorable moments for you?
It was the little things for me - the one-on-ones with the students, helping them in different ways and connecting like that was cool for me.