Summer Internship Reflections – Part 2
Christine Yan (C ’26), a PPE and CIMS major who worked as a marketing intelligence intern at Paramount Studios, discovered her interest in the niche work of data analytics in the entertainment field. “The entertainment industry is in flux, with traditional models being replaced by digital innovation,” she wrote. “Paramount’s ability to leverage data to navigate these changes is a testament to the growing role of analytics in entertainment—an area I’m increasingly passionate about.”
For a student like English major Wahid Sarwar (C ’25), the internship experience allowed him to move in a direction he’d been curious about but hadn’t previously centered in his academics: film. Wahid interned at Odenkirk Proviso Entertainment and was surprised at the supportive and collaborative environment, a change from his previous, more solitary path in book publishing: “My time at OPE was delightful because of the community that surrounded me: fellow interns, executive assistants, managers, and founders…This collaborative environment was new to me in an occupational sense, but it has also existed in many forms—especially back at Penn. I’ve tried my hardest to surround myself in communities that I am passionate about, where I feel safe and seen. My social spheres, my involvement with extracurriculars, and my academic commitment have always been indicative of myself. So why shouldn’t I make my work experience the same?” Wahid’s time at OPE helped solidify his decision to add a CIMS minor in his senior year.
As students reflected on their internships, a recurrent theme was the discovery of how their experiences incorporated knowledge from many of their academic and extracurricular interests. CIMS and PPE major Samantha Salcedo Martinez (C ’25), who interned on Quest Means Business at Warner Brothers Discovery, wrote, “Early on, I saw how my two majors worked in tandem when I began writing the show’s market updates. The task required delivering a minute-long report on American stock markets. Try to find something interesting. Don’t make it boring. Those are comments you seldom hear in Econ courses. Luckily, I heard them repeatedly in the year-long documentary filmmaking course I took last year as part of my CIMS major. So when I wrote about Boeing’s stock falling, I mentioned Netflix’s simultaneous production announcement of an investigative documentary on the company’s recent scandals. The more market updates I wrote, the more I dug through news headlines and press releases for the angle on stocks that would make my writing worthwhile to the viewers around the world.”
Tami Owolabi (W ’25) a management and marketing major with a minor in jazz and popular music, also found that her internship confirmed her skills in business and passion for music could meet in the professional world. “The possibilities seem endless,” she wrote after a second internship at Roc Nation this summer, “from crafting innovative marketing campaigns for up-and-coming artists to developing long-term strategic partnerships that shape the cultural landscape. It's shown me that I can contribute meaningfully to the success of Black artists and the promotion of Black music while also applying the business principles I've learned at Wharton.”
We cheer these students’ use of their internships as part professional introduction, part quest of discovery, and look forward to more rich explorations in summer 2025.