My summer internship
By Molly Meyer Starr UA’28 and Jim Stellar
When I (MMS) told JS that I had a summer internship in Manhattan at C.A.R.E.S at Mount Sinai, his face lit up. I had come in to talk to JS about working together and seeing if there was a possibility to be mentored by him. I recently switched from a biology major to psychology after realizing I was more interested in my psychology courses rather than my biology classes. During my switch over with academic advisors, they recommended reaching out to JS as he could have ideas for me to help find a path in psychology I’d be interested in.
I had come in to meet with JS one more time because even after the first meeting, I knew I felt comfortable and could really see myself getting support out of him that my biology professors couldn’t give. The second meeting was when we started looking at his blog posts, how his students write all different things, from research blogs to blogs on how they’re navigating life after graduation. He had the idea for me and him to work on a blog, but about what? A blog based on what I believe my time at C.A.R.E.S this coming summer will look like.
So what is C.A.R.E.S? It is a therapeutic school in Mount Sinai hospital. I had previously done volunteer work in the hospital part in the summer of 2025. While I did enjoy it and got a lot of hands-on medically-related experience, I couldn’t feel myself wanting to continue it in the future. However, I had recently reached out to the person who ran admissions at C.A.R.E.S. therapeutic school. In that school, they combine normal high school classes along with behavioral therapeutic techniques. That attracted me as a combination of my psychology and biology interests.
This coming summer, I will lead a small C.A.R.E.S. hands-on therapeutic class alongside a psychologist. I will also be allowed to be in their morning psychological rounds, where each teacher and psychologist will give updates on students and the design of their treatments. As this school is in a hospital, many of the teachers and doctors work hard to not make it feel like a hospital. When I start, one interesting fact is that I will be joining during the senior student’s transition from the end of high school. I will get to be a part of the seniors’ graduation events, and I will be able to get a sense of what it’s like for them during normal school hours. Then in the summer, …
As stated, my main time there will be over the summer, so it’ll be a different setting compared to the normal school calendar. There will be fewer students, as it’s going to be all grades of high schoolers in their summer courses. The job that the other interns and I are doing is to offer a safe space where they can talk to younger people and do some fun activities to enjoy their summer, so it’s not all schoolwork. Many of their interns that work there are usually just out of undergrad and figuring out their next steps, whether it is doing further schooling or taking a break and simply working at the C.A.R.E.S. school. The C.A.R.E.S. staff are letting me join in as a sophomore. That will be a little different since I’m closer in age than the other interns and can offer ideas that I’d want to do if I were still in high school.
So this great experiential story MMS just relayed about her summer internship. As a professor and as a neuroscientist, I (JS) only want to make one point and that is about growth from that experience. The college years are an especially good time for growth as they lead to something valuable – one’s profession. While that can feel like pressure, it also can stimulate thinking and growth. That is particularly if you have some people to speak with about your plans and share the growth experience, like mentors or like writing this blog. Why? If you have been reading this blog series you are probably already thinking about how it is the stimulation of the limbic system, when something of value is at stake, that seems to really drive the neocortex, where abstract thinking and planning takes place. We tend to think that the prefrontal cortex is where those plans are laid out, where the logical issues are figured and the nature of the action determined and others have written about how that frontal cortex gets input from the limbic system. While it is in the limbic system from where that energy comes, it only really works when the plan seems reasonable as does this one. Then, after the experience, perhaps in talking with a mentor, one can check the outcome compared to alternatives.
To go further, I began looking at different jobs I (MMS) could do with a psychology degree, and my knowledge of biology was furthered by my minor in biology. I knew no matter what career path I went to it would require more schooling. Now I have gained a great interest in becoming a clinical psychologist instead of going to medical school. Part of what appeals to me is that I can still do hands-on work in a field in which I am deeply interested in. I will use my summer internship to really dive into that idea, talk to those clinical psychologists and gain their perspective and what their day-to-day is, and come back with a more developed certainty to execute my career plan.
Stay tuned.
