Faith Jarrell ’25 honed her storytelling and media skills through a transformative internship at the world-famous Apollo Theater in the heart of Harlem, New York City.  

Through Washington's Explore America Summer Internship program, Jarrell wrote and produced podcasts telling the stories of long-time Harlem residents for the Apollo Theater Education Department. The podcasts are part of the Apollo Theater Oral History Project (OHP), which captures the voices of Apollo “history-makers” and other essential figures integral to the theater's evolution.   

Jarrell worked on podcasts numbers seven and eight in the "Stories Our Elders Tell Us" series. Her episodes featured the stories of Mrs. Runeda Miller-Gerald and Ms. Margaretta "Bobo" Goines. Jarell chose these two women after reviewing many transcripts and listening to hours of interviews that fourth- and fifth-graders from a local school conducted with community elders between 2010 and 2019. 

“This internship meant a lot to me, and the project meant a lot to my supervisor, so I wanted it to be as perfect as possible,” Jarrell said. “This experience really helped me learn not only what kind of environment I want to be in, but what kind of work I want to do.” 

Read more about Faith’s internship

Albanian native Bianti Danaj ’24 grew a class project into the basis for his Senior Capstone Experience and then into a full-fledged company tapping into his country’s tradition of hand-picking early-harvest olives and cold-extracting the oil. He launched a new business, Donika Olive Oil, while rounding out his senior year on campus.  

While developing his business plan for the Capstone, he secured research funding from many sources at the College, including the Warehime Fund for Student Excellence in Business, the Elm Tree Fund, and the Office of the Provost.  

“My Capstone advisor, professor Thomas Tracy, assisted me in figuring out details with logistics and improving the business side of things,” Danaj said. “I’ve also been working directly with the crop scientists who are monitoring the agricultural practices of producing the olive oil. It’s important to me to provide this premium olive oil directly to the consumer and ensure the freshest quality by connecting our customers with the Albanian farmers. I want to recreate a similar relationship to the one I had growing up with the producers of this special olive oil. That is the value of this niche market.” 

Read a Q&A with Danaj