Time flies when you’re chasing passions, as the Indy staff discovered this summer. Fewer responsibilities, no classes, and better weather—what more could one ask for? But as the season winds down, it’s time to transition from these sun-soaked, carefree days to the structured, rigorous days of the academic year. This also means that the Independent is back and publishing weekly, ready to deliver fresh content to the Harvard community. Behind the Indy are its dedicated members who make it all happen, and they’re returning from their eventful summers. Amidst the warm weather and freedom, summers for most college students include opportunities to grow, learn, and prepare for the future and paths they might follow.
The Indy staff had a productive summer, engaging in various activities such as exploring new job opportunities, embarking on travel adventures, immersing themselves in the art world, and diving into venture capital. Maddy Tunnell ’26 is a staff writer concentrating in the History of Art and Architecture (HAA) who channeled her love for the concentration into an internship at Sean Kelly Gallery in New York City.
Tunnell noted that the gallery specializes in contemporary art and, being mid-sized, offered a more intimate and hands-on experience compared to Harvard’s HAA department. “If you are not necessarily on the architecture track, I feel like a lot of what is talked about is future academia,” and added that the retail side of the art world is ‘not heavily touched upon,’” Tunnell explained.
At her gallery internship, responsibilities varied from conducting extensive research on emerging artists, tracking exhibitions at galleries, fairs, and museums, and managing the gallery’s roster of artists. For Tunnell, concentrating in a humanities field means navigating a less defined career path compared to fields like medicine or finance, yet the experience has only deepened her commitment to pursuing a career in the art world. “The internship and talking to people who have done what I want to do were the most helpful part,” she shared.
Like Tunnell, Jordan Wasserberger ’27 participated in an internship this summer, though in a different field. His summer was split between two significant endeavors. His “nine-to-five” was spent working at a venture capital firm in New York. This was Wasserberger’s second year at the firm, having previously worked there during his gap year, where he found the focus on emerging consumer tech companies fascinating.
In addition to his venture capital job, he spent his free time working on a passion project. “I was also running my company,” Wasserberger mentioned. “We’re an independent game studio, working on our first project, so not a lot of traveling, but a lot of work that I really enjoyed.”
These two roles reflect Wasserberger’s diverse interests, much like his involvement as a photo editor and staff writer at the Independent. He emphasized how these firsthand experiences have shaped his approach to work in other areas of his life. “Working in the real world has certainly influenced the way I approach my responsibilities at the Indy and at school,” Wasserberger noted. “It changes your focus and mindset, making you more adaptable and driven.”
Just as venture capital fostered one student’s adaptability, another found similar growth through cultural immersion in Taipei, Taiwan. Carly Gelles ’27 spent her summer there participating in an eight-week intensive Mandarin program through the Harvard Taipei Academy. The program aligns perfectly with her academic interests, as she plans to major in East Asian Studies or Linguistics.
The course was rigorous, requiring students to sign a language pledge to speak only Mandarin for the program’s duration. “It was very difficult at first, but I think it really forced me to get out of my comfort zone,” Gelles shared. The immersion program covered an entire year’s worth of Chinese in just eight weeks, further challenging her.
In addition to her studies, she had the opportunity to explore Taipei, especially on weekends. Reflecting on her experience, Gelles, one of the Independent’s Community Chairs, said, “It was an absolutely phenomenal program. I had the best summer of my entire life, getting to really connect with the other students and teachers. I developed such close relationships with all of them, and it fostered my love of learning Chinese while immersing myself in the culture and environment.”
Eliza Kimball ’25, the President of the Indy, spent her summer in Switzerland, participating in particle physics research. This opportunity arose as she was contemplating whether or not she was interested in pursuing a PhD. While discussing her career options with Harvard Professor Masahiro Morii, an experimental physicist focusing on high-energy physics and particle physics, he suggested she join him in Switzerland for the summer to conduct research. This experience proved life-changing for Kimball—not only did she learn a great deal and work incredibly hard, but she also fell in love with Switzerland.
“The main reason I went,” Kimball explained, “was not just to set myself up for graduation but to make this big decision of whether I wanted to go down the path of academia.” She found herself at CERN, one of the world’s largest research centers, located on the border of France and Switzerland. “CERN houses the Large Hadron Collider, and I was working on the ATLAS experiment,” she said.
Her work involved a unique blend of hardware and software tasks as she contributed to developing a new detector for the ATLAS experiment, specifically focusing on the inner tracker. “I did a good amount of data analysis for long-lived particles,” she explained. It was an incredible opportunity for Kimball to be surrounded by physicists, as “a large portion of the world’s particle physicists are working in collaboration with CERN.” She witnessed the immediate impact of her work, knowing it would eventually be deployed in groundbreaking research. As she put it, “I was right in the heart of the action.”
During weekends, Kimball explored Switzerland, falling in love with the country. She also developed a passion for journaling, mentioning that she wrote about 400 pages over the summer, which became a cherished pastime.
While Independent Special Projects Director Michael Oved’s ’25 summer job wasn’t in Switzerland or related to physics, it was no less fascinating. Oved worked for New Fortress Energy, a private equity firm that describes itself as “a vertically integrated energy infrastructure company.” The firm primarily invests in emerging markets, with a focus on providing clean energy solutions. Oved explained that most of their investments are in emerging markets, and NFE tries to “provide clean energy to those emerging markets.”
Oved thoroughly enjoyed his time at New Fortress Energy, particularly the variety of his daily tasks. “Every day was different, and all of my responsibilities varied greatly,” he explained. The dynamic nature of the work and the diverse opportunities it presented kept him engaged and motivated.
Oved was a part of the commercial team, where his role involved handling acquisitions of companies across the various regions where New Fortress Energy operates. This experience was particularly valuable for Oved, who had previously interned at a hedge fund. “I wanted to gain a deeper understanding of the different components and industries involved in valuing companies,” he said. Working at New Fortress Energy allowed him to do just that.
Rania Jones ’27 also interned this summer in her hometown of Chicago. “At the beginning of the summer, I reached out to a bunch of judges in Chicago who work for the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago,” she explained. “I cold emailed several judges, and eventually, I got a response from someone at the State of Illinois Cook County Circuit Court.” This led to an opportunity for her to intern at a courthouse in Bridgeview, located in the Fifth Municipal District, about an hour’s drive from Chicago.
Her position as a judicial intern involved a variety of tasks. “I helped write and edit memorandums, and a large part of my role was observing court, which was really interesting,” she said. She also assisted the legal staff with research, case preparation, and administrative tasks. The diverse nature of her work provided her with valuable insights into the legal system. She explained that the court addresses matters of state law, “which is really interesting because it is not like the court downtown, which represents a lot of the city issues like protests, political rallies, and political violence related things, but the state of Illinois deals with the majority of crimes that you would be arrested for or need to show up in court for, so everything from like traffic court to domestic violence to murder.”
Jones, who plans to concentrate in History and Literature with a secondary in Government, found the experience particularly enlightening. “What I found to be really interesting about the experience was that I have been learning at Harvard about government on such a grand scale, but sitting in a courtroom and hearing about local politics and local government and policies is a really different experience. It is a really important experience, especially for people interested in government, because it’s a very different realm.”
The Indy staff had a busy and fulfilling summer, with each member pursuing different passions and gaining invaluable experiences. From particle physics research in Switzerland to language immersion in Taiwan, from energy infrastructure in emerging markets to hands-on legal work in Chicago, the team explored diverse fields and brought back inspirational stories and insights. Their varied experiences not only reflect their ambitions but also highlight the wide-ranging interests and accomplishments that they bring to the Indy.
Nina Berkman ’27 (ninaberkman@college.harvard.edu) is now reconsidering what she did this summer after these interviews.