As the Spring semester comes to a close, the sisters of Alpha Phi have plenty to celebrate. We made it through another semester marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, we get to see our seniors finally walk across the stage at graduation, and we even had our first formal in over a year. These moments together are memories we’ll cherish forever, so it’s hard to believe that in just a few short weeks we’ll be separated again for the summer.
Luckily, we’ll have plenty to keep us busy.
One of our Gainesville-bound Phis, Kaelyn Cassidy, will spend her summer as the editor-in-chief of The Independent Florida Alligator. Kaelyn will oversee a staff of about 60 as they report on UF and Gainesville. She’s honored to be leading the largest independent student newsroom in the country, and excited to produce great journalism to help our community stay informed about stories that impact them.
Jessica Dominici is headed back to Tampa to intern in the Radiation Oncology Center at Tampa General Hospital, where she’ll assist in dosimetry and medical physics research for cervical cancer. She’s excited to be conducting research in her hometown, especially because this is where her best friend was treated for cancer. Jessica plans on applying for a graduate program for Medical Physics, and this internship will help her get experience and sharpen her skills in the field.
Our president, Kristina Cajiao, got accepted into the CALS/FAES summer research program and will be a research assistant under Dr. Anne Mathews, a food science and human nutrition associate professor, and assist her in several different research projects pertaining to nutrition and food access.
We’ll be working hard out of state, too. Andrea Relova is headed to Austin, Texas for a software and engineering internship at a startup called Quantum Interface that makes technologies for predictive and motion-based User Interface design. A few of us have plans in the U.S. capital. Abby Streetman will be living in Washington, D.C. to intern for the Media Research Center. She’ll spend her summer examining media sites and entertainment industries for bias, as well as writing articles and performing interviews. She’ll be joined remotely by Stephanie Odom who is interning for Young Mother’s Inc., a non-profit that helps young mothers become financially literate, build career paths and create a healthy work/life balance.
Some of our sisters will be spending their summers overseas. Zoe Primack is going to Israel for two months to intern for Big Brothers Big Sisters, an international non-profit that pairs underprivileged children with mentors. She’ll be working on new projects to reach more volunteers and donors, engage the community and connect the organization with other Jewish communities in the U.S. Zoe wants to go into school psychology, so working with kids to help close the achievement gap in Israel is something she’s really passionate about.
Though we’re so excited for these opportunities and looking forward to productive summers, there’s still no one you miss more than your sis. It’ll be a long few months, but we’ll be cheering each other on from afar.