Pomona students who shared insights from their summer internships are (clockwise from the top left) Sebastian Fish Mathurin ’26, Jonathan Varcados ’27, Vanessa Lowder ’28, Bridget Brodie ’27.
More than 90 Pomona College students stepped into hands-on internships this summer, gaining real-world experience on film sets, in research labs and in service to others.
The Pomona College Internship Program (PCIP) empowers students to explore career pathways through formal, structured internships across a wide range of fields and industries — locally and globally. Made possible by the generosity of the Sagehen community, PCIP removes financial barriers by providing stipends that allow students to pursue meaningful, often unpaid, opportunities.
In addition to hands-on work experience, students engage in complementary Pomona programming designed to deepen their learning and professional growth. This includes guided reflective writing, informational interviews and employer engagement — all of which builds their confidence, clarifies their goals and strengthens their professional networks.
“PCIP is an excellent opportunity for students to apply their liberal arts education and experience in a meaningful work environment, while engaging in intentional curriculum,” says Elizabeth Contreras, assistant director for experiential learning and career advising. “Philanthropic support elevates programming and ensures Pomona students gain critical hands-on experience that is essential to their personal and professional development.”
Learning the Script: Turning Passion into Practice
A media studies major with dreams of filmmaking, Sebastian Fish Mathurin ’26 interned at Lord Miller Productions in Los Angeles. The company, founded by the minds behind the Spider-Verse franchise and “The Lego Movie,” gave Mathurin a front-row seat to the industry.
Working as an assistant to the president and vice president of television, he read scripts, performed coverage on speculative projects and sharpened his critical eye.
“After reading over 30 pieces of work, you develop a real knack for what works and what doesn’t,” Mathurin says. “You learn how to critically assess and articulate those insights — something that begins in Pomona’s classrooms and fully comes to life in the studios.”
The experience also came with a Sagehen connection: one of the executives he assisted was Pomona Trustee Aditya Sood ’97, president of Lord Miller and executive producer of “Deadpool” and “Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse.”
Mathurin, the son of immigrants, says he hopes to follow in Sood’s footsteps and bring stories to life by, “creating worlds and contributing to a better tomorrow.”
Solving Equations and Seeking Impact
Vanessa Lowder ’28, a mathematics major, delved into the role of undergraduate researcher for the University of Chicago’s mathematics department — attending lectures and studying advanced topics like category theory and dynamic systems.
When the UChicago program lost its federal funding, Lowder sought assistance from Pomona’s Career Development Office to help fund her trip to the Windy City. Without PCIP, Lowder says she wouldn’t have been able to live in Chicago and work so closely with the research community. Lowder added that the program affirmed her desire to merge her interest in math with social impact.
“My mentor shared her own experience of teaching students in Kashmir,” Lowder says. “She assured me that if you care about making a difference, you will find — or create — an opportunity to do so.”
Tackling Sports Medicine Beyond the Field
This summer, Jonathan Varcados ’27 traded in the football field for a research lab. A neuroscience major and member of the Pomona-Pitzer Football team, Varcados served as a research assistant in the Digital Orthopaedic Biomechanics Lab at UC San Francisco.
In this role, he supported orthopedic surgeons in spine, hip and sports medicine research by primarily working in-clinic to collect and analyze patient data, and conducting literature reviews to support his work. He also studied recovery patterns and conditions like hip-spine syndrome.
“Being exposed to patient care as an undergraduate is rare,” Varcados says. “I never imagined I’d contribute to research that could one day improve surgical outcomes.”
Without PCIP, he adds, living in a high-cost city like San Francisco would not have been feasible. “Working at UCSF is undoubtedly one of the greatest honors I’ve had,” he says. “I’m thankful to the Pomona community for making that possible.”
Building Connections Across Cultures
Bridget Brodie ’27, a philosophy, politics and economics major, spent her summer in Chicago, working for Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America (FORA), a non-profit that provides trauma-informed education to refugees with limited or interrupted formal schooling.
Brodie tutored her students in core subjects like math and English while helping them explore areas of interest ranging from geography to physics. She also supported the organization’s communications efforts, writing for FORA’s website and managing their social media.
“At FORA, especially in a time of increasingly anti-immigrant and anti-refugee policies, I have seen how support structures are critical in the U.S.,” she says.
For Brodie, the experience deepened her understanding of global systems and community engagement. “Pomona’s liberal arts education lays the groundwork for collaboration across diverse communities, and I felt fortunate to apply those skills at such a meaningful organization,” she says.
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