Name: Camille Sewell
Class Year: 2025
Major: Psychology
Hometown: Salem, OR
Internship Organization: CHAP (Children's Healing Art Project)
Job Title: CHAP Summer Intern
Location: Portland, OR
What's happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!
My summer internship has been absolutely incredible thus far! The team at CHAP have welcomed me with open arms and created a safe, fun, uplifting, and supportive work environment. Over the past few weeks, I have been helping my supervisors assemble materials for their upcoming art camps. In addition, I have been leading outreach initiatives to attract more participants. I have loved connecting with local businesses, hospitals, clinics, and community centers and establishing partnerships between CHAP and other nonprofit organizations. Doing so has really helped me hone my professional skills as I strive to make a positive first impression on potential sponsors, donors, and partners. Finally, I have also been helping out at special events. In this position, I supervise the children as they paint, collage, sculpt, sew, and draw! I have met so many wonderful families which has strengthened my commitment to and interest in working with children after graduation.
Why did you apply for this internship?
I applied for this summer internship after reading CHAP's mission statement: "children are known for their creativity and ingenuity — not by their disease, diagnosis or disability." I was so inspired by their commitment to fostering joy and inclusivity. As a psychology major, I love learning about initiatives, treatments, medications, and programs that promote greater emotional wellbeing and resiliency. CHAP harnesses the healing power of the arts to help children express themselves, process their feelings, and communicate with their peers. Learning more about this work sparked my curiosity in the field of art therapy. I decided to apply for this internship to help determine whether I would like to work in such a position, bridging my passion for psychology with my love of working with children.
Can you give us three adjectives and three nouns that describe your internship experience?
Whimsical, uplifting, impactful
Children, art, community
What is most rewarding about your internship?
The most rewarding aspect of my internship is witnessing the joy on the children's faces as they show off their artwork. In June, I helped staff a special event for children with cancer where I connected with a five-year-old and her family. Seeing how excited, proud, and happy she was as she painted a rainbow made my heart soar. In the face of adversity, pain, and suffering, this little girl was radiant. She could not stop smiling and talking about how much she loved her design. I was delighted to see that an activity as simple as painting could yield such a positive impact.
Visit the Summer Internship Stories page to read more about student internship experiences.
Thanks to the generosity of ÀÏÍõÂÛ̳ alumnae and other donors, the College is able to award more than $600,000 in annual summer internship funding. Internships represent a wide variety of fields, including the nonprofit, NGO, healthcare, government, sciences, art and private sectors. Learn more about summer funding here