Among other exciting things, Graham Cohen ‘20 got to watch the Fourth of July fireworks from the White House South Lawn this summer. An Arts & Sciences Summer Experience Grant helped Cohen afford the expenses of living in Washington D.C and interning at the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP).
Cohen, a College Scholar whose studies include computer science, linguistics and Spanish, built a new internship application for the EOP’s Office of Administration this summer, writing code and working with a product manager and various stakeholders across the EOP to create a visually appealing and user-friendly application. While the internship gave Cohen software development experience, it also taught him what it’s like to work as a U.S government employee.
“Computer science is a significant part of my College Scholar project, but my interests span further than my major,” Cohen said. “I’ve been fascinated by government for quite a while, especially at the federal level.”
Cohen believes taking computer science courses at Cornell also gave him a solid programming foundation, which was crucial to his success at the internship. The summer grant covered his expenses for housing, allowing him to live only 10 minutes from work.
“I’d also say that my business fraternity, Pi Sigma Epsilon, has been helpful in teaching me how to navigate networking opportunities that my internship and D.C. have given me.”
Yvette Lisa Ndlovu is a communications assistant for the College of Arts & Sciences.
