MMC Junior Takes Advantage of the CityEdge Internship Stipend

Internships and meaningful field experiences are central to CityEdge, MMC’s signature college-to-career initiative. All students are encouraged to pursue internships to gain real-world experience, to set themselves apart from the rest of the job market, and to be better prepared to enter the professional world upon graduation. Part of this commitment to promoting student internship experience is the CityEdge Internship Stipend—a $1,000 grant awarded to eligible students who secure unpaid internships at non-profit organizations or government agencies.

Allison Lehman ’19, a junior at MMC, was one of a select few students awarded a CityEdge Internship Stipend for the Fall 2017 semester. She says, “I was fortunate enough to be an administrative intern with the esteemed non-for-profit off-Broadway company, Women’s Project Theater. Although this wasn’t my first internship in Arts Management, it has definitely been my most educational. I can’t think of a better organization at which to really be getting my start in New York City than this incredible company that’s dedicated to…developing, producing and promoting the work of female-identified and trans theater artists at every stage in their careers.  As a young female artist, it means the world to be to be working and learning in this institution under a team of other strong, established women in my field.”

Internships are invaluable in helping students explore possible fields of interest and in providing an in-depth and realistic understanding of what it truly means to work in a particular industry. Lehman explains, “There are definitely some stand out lessons I learned during my three months with WP. In a non-for-profit organization in the arts, every dollar counts. Money is a huge factor in the function and longevity in an organization. Every ticket sale, donation, and grant is crucial to the company, not only for the present with things like production costs, purchasing office supplies, and payroll, but also for dictating what is possible in future seasons.”

The Internship Stipend enables students to pursue internships in the nonprofit sector without having to suffer the financial stress of an unpaid position. “Having an unpaid internship of this magnitude was really only possible for me with the support of the CityEdge Stipend I was so graciously awarded by Career Services. Being a student and just a young person in general, unpaid internships are essentially the name of the game at the entry-level of careers, especially in the arts and where non-for-profit organizations are concerned. I cannot express how thankful I am to have been one of the students that was given the CityEdge Stipend.”

Students can apply for the CityEdge Internship Stipend for the Spring 2018 semester here.

Published: January 10, 2018