The Aspen Institute out of Colorado has chosen three Wofford students for their summer internship this year. Lily Wiley ‘25, Tatum Mogck ‘25 and Miles Mascot ‘25 will intern at this nonprofit organization that focuses on education and policies concerning the world.
The internship is a highly competitive selection process, as 20 Wofford students applied this year, five were granted interviews and three were chosen for the 2024 internship.
The internship is a well-paid job; however, Michael S. Brown, a Wofford graduate, funds three student interns each summer for their housing and travel needs. Brown also treats the students to excursions like white water rafting and paragliding.
There are fifteen institutes around the world, each holding conferences, seminars and several programs regarding financial and societal issues, ultimately working to battle significant crises around the world.
The Institute was founded in 1949 and is based out of Washington, DC. Wofford has been partnered with it for the past 18 years, sending students for internships each summer.
The students this year will be working with people like the Surgeon General, organizations like the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and several sponsors for the institute.
In the past, students who have interned at this institute were working with their future employers at the time.
Specifically, Franny Noll ‘24 was an intern in the summer of 2022, working as the communications liaison, where she made several connections leading to the job she is pursuing after graduation.
The institute allowed Noll to meet big names in the world like Bill Nye, Jessica Alba, Katie Kurich and Hillary Clinton. Ultimately, this is where Noll was directly connected to the person who recently employed her for post-graduate work.
Noll started at the institute right after COVID-19 occurred, so everything in Colorado was still opening back up as she arrived. Noll opted to drive out to Aspen, stopping in places around the country on the way.
“It was the most informative experience of my life; it was a struggle at times because it was post COVID, so the world looked different when I showed up, but it was cool to be there and watch everything open up again,” said Noll.
On the weekends, the interns are welcome to travel across the west. Noll got to white water raft, fly fish, snow tube and visit Red Rocks in Denver. Mogck said she is planning to camp in Utah for one of her excursions and explore Colorado itself.
“It is hard to resist a fully paid internship, and the experiences will be worth it no matter what. All of us love Brown and are grateful he does this for students,” said Mogck. “I applied for this internship because it was an opportunity where I could explore all types of positions and careers at the same time to hopefully figure out what I wanted to do in the future.”
The campus in Aspen is quite large, so the opportunities to meet big names is feasible.
“I got to see the campus go from no one to fifty thousand people at a single conference; it’s such an educational environment and awesome exposure with young kids and people much older than me,” said Noll.
At the beginning of June, Mogck, Wiley and Mascot will start in Aspen and work for the institute until the beginning of August.
