This summer, four interns from Boston public high schools have joined the HOPE National Resource Center team! This group of interns is working on projects from resource development, research, evaluation and many more areas of HOPE. We are excited to have them working with us this summer, sharing their insights and unique perspectives. Get to know the HOPE summer interns:
Nabeli Peña
What grade are you entering, and school do you attend?
I am entering my Junior year of high school at Boston Latin School.
Why did you choose this internship? What made you want to work with HOPE?
I chose this internship because of HOPE’s message and commitment to spreading awareness. Also, it gives me a chance to experience what a professional environment is like.
What are your career goals/interests for your future in college or the working world?
In the future I plan on becoming a Pathologist. I have yet to decide if I will go into specifically forensics. Additionally, I plan on majoring in Biology.
What is your favorite hobby or something you like to do in your free time?
In my free time, I enjoy crocheting, and currently I am working on a few different projects. I also enjoy baking in my spare time, but I haven’t been able to do as much lately.
Emily Chen
What grade are you entering, and school do you attend?
I am entering my senior year and I go to Boston Latin School.
Why did you choose this internship? What made you want to work with HOPE?
I chose this internship because I am really interested in how a positive experience can affect how a child acts in specific scenarios. I wanted to work with HOPE because I want to contribute to helping out children who cannot have these positive experiences, either from their parents or their environment.
What are your career goals/interests for your future in college or the working world?
In the future, I would love to major in Pharmacy and become a pharmacist later. I enjoy being able to interact with people and just talking to them about medicine that they are taking to make them feel better. I love to help out others; so I would love to become one in the future.
What is your favorite hobby or something you like to do in your free time?
My favorite hobby would be drawing, especially different characters or fan art of stuff I watch. I get to express myself in different ways and how I’m feeling at the moment. I also really like streaming in my free time because I love to interact with other people and even though there aren’t a lot of people watching my stream, I am able to connect with the ones that are watching more deeply rather than just asking a simple, How are you?.
Hieu Nguyen
What college will you be attending in the Fall?
Hello, I have recently graduated from Boston Latin School. This fall, I will be attending Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences!
Why did you choose this internship? What made you want to work with HOPE?
One of the main reasons why I chose this internship was because of what I am planning on becoming in the future. Currently, I want to become a physician assistant, and this is an excellent opportunity for me to gain a sense of how a hospital works and also learn from the people that are around me. As for why I chose HOPE, it was because it was one of the only departments which focus more on children’s development and that really pulled me in.
What are your career goals/interests for your future in college or the working world?
Since I am pretty interested in the medical field, I will definitely apply to more internships in the future and learn all that I can. Hopefully, by the end of it all, I will be able to graduate college and build a stable life for myself and at least 3 pets.
What is your favorite hobby or something you like to do in your free time?
Some of the things that I do in my free time are those online puzzle games such as the New York Times (NYT) crosswords and Wordle, watching dramas, and scrolling through Tiktok!
Alina Ngo
What grade are you entering, and school do you attend?
In the fall, I will be entering 12th grade, senior year of high school. I am currently attending John D O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Sciences.
Why did you choose this internship? What made you want to work with HOPE?
I chose this internship at Tufts because I want to know what it is like to work in a hospital setting and environment. What drew me in to intern with HOPE this summer was the message they presented such as wanting to provide health care and education for all children from different backgrounds, hoping to create a positive childhood for individuals.
What are your career goals/interests for your future in college or the working world?
My career goal is to become a forensic or criminal physicist because I would like to work with law enforcement, lawyers, etc. to help solve cases. I would like to evaluate criminals and crime scenes to help get the accurate information. Or I could focus on the victims and help them on the road to recovery from the traumatic experiences they have just gone through. Our system is not perfect right now due to the amount of people wrongly accused of a crime and unable to get proper representation. So, I would like to make an effort and contribute as much as I can to make a change.
What is your favorite hobby or something you like to do in your free time?
In my free time, I enjoy reading books (currently reading “All Adults Here” by Emma Straub). I also enjoy gardening, which I started doing every summer now since 2020. And I like painting, which I found really relaxing and soothing.
