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"Nature's designs can be so stealth!" Alyssa Kanagaki '10 said. Diseases spread so quickly that it is hard to believe that something as small as a bacterium could cause so much harm. Kanagaki's internship this summer with Dr. Suckjoon Jun gave her the chance to explore these microscopic marvels more closely. Dr. Jun, a physicist who has recently turned to biology, wants to know how one cell becomes two cells. It's not a simple question, nor does it have a simple answer. He and his team at Harvard University’s FAS Center for Systems Biology study this and other details of a cell's life.

Born in Harlem, educated at Hamilton then Harvard, civil rights leader Dr. Robert P. Moses’ life is an inspirational story in the style of 19th century Horatio Alger novels. He graduated from Hamilton in 1956 and founded The Algebra Project (AP) in 1982 as a means to advance public school education, especially in mathematics, for every child. He and the people at The Algebra Project feel that every child is entitled to a proper education in order to succeed in an increasingly technology-based society.

Journalism is the world’s transcript – the records accumulate but never disappear, even if we persistently try to ignore them. Julia Mulcrone ’11 says that in this way, journalism is “extremely important because it is the medium through which people learn about the world—it’s hard not to care about.” This summer, in preparation for a career in journalism, she is interning for Today’s Chicago Woman magazine, which has a target audience of women in their 30s to 50s. They offered her an unpaid position, however, so she applied for and received a stipend from the Joseph F. Anderson '44 Internship Fund, which helps students who have full-time, unpaid internships cover outside expenses.

Pablo Abreu ’10 describes an “awakening” that occurred during his junior year. Up until that point, his heart was set on working with people in the health care industry. But after speaking to Daniel Custódio ’00 and Sandra Revueltas ’05, he decided to shift the course of his ambitions. Now he wants to pursue a career in business, which will give him a similar sense of direct contact with people. This summer, he is interning at Wunderman, the largest direct marketing agency and one of the top 10 direct and digital agencies in the world.

When Xiang Wang ’12 watched the 2004 U. S. presidential election on television, he became enamored with politics and American democracy. It was only the beginning of his interest in governmental policy – the 5th Congressional District office, where he now interns, helped Wang and his mother immigrate to the United States. Now, as a potential world politics and economics double major at Hamilton, Wang is working for U.S. Congressman Gary Ackerman at the office, located in Bayside, N.Y.

Caroline Krumholz ’10 never described her interest in different people and ethnicities as anthropology until she came to Hamilton. Once she identified anthropology as a distinct subject with its own title and terminology, her interest began to grow. Ever since, she has become increasingly committed to learning more about culture and tradition. This summer, she is interning in Hamilton’s Anthropology Department, working under the advisory of Assistant Professor Chaise LaDousa. He is guiding her through the process of conducting fieldwork and sifting through relevant literature.

Matthew Gabriel ’11 has a fondness for phrases like “a more perfect Union” and “the Blessings of Liberty.” To him, the elegant script that cried for a fledgling country to “establish justice” and “promote the general welfare” is still relevant today. For many, the Preamble of the Constitution is just a Schoolhouse Rock song. But Gabriel’s intended career depends on how the entire work is interpreted. This summer, he is working at the Kings County District Attorney’s office in Brooklyn, N.Y., in their Early Case Assessment Bureau (ECAB). His internship reinforces his interest in justice and law.

“The only thing I ever enjoyed enough to see myself doing long term was being creative, which is why I became an art major,” said Linda Di Bernardo ’10. But it wasn’t until she watched Lord of the Rings for the first time that her interest in set design began to develop. Di Bernardo appreciated the clash of armor and attention to detail on every sword and garment, and knew that she wanted to contribute to such elaborate sets. “I remember when I was little I wanted to be an actress, which didn't work out for me since I get stage fright pretty easily,” she laughed. “Working on sets keeps me in that same kind of exciting environment while doing something I love.”

The environmental studies major with a focus in the humanities is not based on geology or biology. Rather, it highlights the philosophical and historical aspects of nature’s wonder. Julie DiRoma ’10 is channeling this interest in environmental theory into a potential career in policy or education. Although a scientific mode of thinking is ideal for some students, DiRoma prefers to discuss the human angle on nature. This summer, she attends environmental sustainability councils as a part of her internship with the Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency (SOCPA) in the Onondaga County Government.

In the words of Jane Hannon ’11, Dr. Dale Purves is “kind of a big deal.” As the director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and George Barth Geller Professor for Research in Neurobiology at Duke University, he is an ideal role model for Hannon, who is a neuroscience major and aspiring expert on the human brain’s machinery. She has an internship in Purves’ lab this summer, and from her desk she can watch him edit the next edition of his textbook. “I get a kick out of it,” she said. “I know that I’ll be seeing those edits very soon because his book will accompany the neuroscience class that I’ll be taking in the fall at Hamilton.”