Canceled in-person internship pivots to valuable remote experience in non-profit sector for recent graduate Wan Hee Kim

Wan Hee Kim (PhD ’21) was able to attend commencement in May, graduating with a PhD in Literacy and Language Education. But like so many Purdue graduate students, Kim’s last year as a student did not go as planned. The pandemic altered a coveted internship as well as her dissertation plans. Kim was awarded a prestigious competitive National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) doctoral student internship that was to take place the summer of 2020. She was looking forward to the 10-week internship not only for the learning experience but for the opportunity to work and live in the Washington, DC, area.

The pandemic forced a cancelation of the internship, but the organization was able to pivot to a different model and offer her a meaningful remote internship experience. As an intern she worked with researchers and staff from the American Institutes for Research (AIR) in data visualization.