These college students want to save the world. There's an internship for that

In the first few hours of Tyler Thompson’s internship this summer, she's learning how elementary school students can be taught to appreciate nature in urban communities.

Across town, Diane Genabe starts her internship by poring over a stack of sketchpads, books, and colorful animal postcards.

Thanks to a federal grant, they’re two of 30 students in the inaugural cohort of West Los Angeles College’s climate internship program, for students who may not be majoring in science but who share an interest in caring for the planet.

By the end of the summer, the program will go so well that the school will plan to offer 100 paid opportunities next year, and demonstrate that climate change can be tackled no matter what career field students might pursue.

Learning through mentorship

Thompson is a psychology major who needs one more semester to complete her coursework at West L.A. College.

She'll spend the summer with Tree People, a nonprofit that’s planted millions of trees throughout Southern California, in collaboration with local residents.

The Tree People staff underscore the importance of giving students a chance to physically connect with what they’re learning about. When teaching little ones about native plants at local parks, for instance, they can take turns hugging one of the oak trees.

Thompson reviews Tree People's guidance for facilitating "ecotours" in the city of Huntington Park.

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Julia Barajas

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Thompson is used to this kind of work, after years at her grandmother’s daycare. She loves that Tree People is “very hands-on and engaged with youth in the community.”

Each internship also comes with a mentor. For Thompson, that mentor is Zoë Temple, who's also Tree People's program manager.

Thompson will help Temple implement the Cindy Montañez Young Leaders Program, a paid summer internship for high schoolers in El Monte and South El Monte. Those students will be taught to care for trees and native plants.

“I’m hoping that [Thompson] gets to see what our other education programming looks like, because we’re [using] the same core concepts,” Temple says.

Genabe on her first day with "Studio Saka," a design, video, and animation production company.

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Annie Rupertus

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Some of the materials Genabe reviewed on her first day, including a Venn diagram to pinpoint how she can help combat climate change.

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Annie Rupertus

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LAist

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Genabe, a business administration major, will spend her summer working at Studio Saka, a design and video production company co-founded by her mentor, Margaret To. In the fall, Genabe will transfer to USC.

An hour into her internship, Genabe and To were hunched over a long wooden table. To usually works from home — Studio SAKA is a small startup, with just a few employees — but for Genabe’s orientation to the company, To opted to meet at a sleek, new-smelling coworking space in Woodland Hills. On day one of the internship, sunlight streams in through floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating a pile of art materials on the table.

Genabe jumps right in, listening attentively and connecting past projects to her own experiences, including a recent trip to Kenya as part of a college program. Focused and self-assured, she diligently completes a Venn diagram that To explains as a climate-centered version of ikigai, a Japanese idea that has to do with finding your purpose in life.

Genabe writes down what she’s good at (problem-solving, creativity), what brings her joy (art, experiencing new cultures), and things that need doing (green jobs, sustainable policies).

There are different reasons to do good

Jo Tavares directs West L.A. College’s California Center for Climate Change Education and oversees the internship program. She says the goal is to get students of all backgrounds to consider a career in reducing the harms of climate change, no matter what field they pursue.

“I am a climate scientist by training,” Tavares says, “but I understood very early on that big global problems cannot be solved just with science.”

And the internships demonstrate that students don’t need the same motivation to do good for the earth, either.

Genabe, for instance, wants to focus on marketing at USC. At Studio Saka, she wants to hone skills that might help with that. “I don’t have much experience with Adobe Creative Cloud, so I definitely want to immerse myself in it,” she says. “The filming aspect, as well, I’m pretty new to doing that.” She'll spend the summer helping with everything from social media content creation to grant research to assisting on shoot days for a docuseries.

Thompson, meanwhile, sees climate work as a way to grow spiritually. She returned to campus when she was 27, with deep ties to her Christian faith. She plans to bridge that faith and what she learns over the summer to what she plans to do next: turning her grandmother's daycare "into a community center for all ages." She envisions a space with a church, “farm-to-table nutrition to promote sustainability, clean drinking water to promote environmental justice, and access to green careers.”

Both students say their mentors encouraged them to ask questions and made time to ask about their interests.

How students grow in their expertise

Midway through the summer, Genabe expresses a little frustration learning to use the design platforms. “It takes me longer than I would like it to,” she says.

But, by her last day with Studio Saka, Genabe is adeptly designing advertisements for “Soil to Soul,” a docuseries about locally-sourced food in L.A. through the lens of farmers and activists of color. The project is set for release in late September, and it's been Genabe’s job to help spread the word on social media.

To pauses to look at Genabe’s designs. Green, brown, and pale pink dominate the screen. Genabe tells LAist that her mentor chose these “earthy tones” because they “really connect with what we’re trying to show in the docuseries.”

“Do you have a favorite?” To asks. Genabe nods and smiles, then confidently points to one of the designs on her screen.

Genabe reviews her designs while her mentor, Margaret To, works across from her.

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Julia Barajas

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LAist

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Thompson completes her time with Tree People with a presentation for the high school students she's worked with over the summer. During her presentation, she shares that she actually went to West L.A. College when she was fresh out of high school, but had a hard time.

“I was in and out of college for about four years,” she said. “I felt lost, and I couldn't connect to anything.”

She shares this experience, and discusses her faith, to connect with the students. “I know things can get overwhelming,” she tells them, “with searching for schools and trying to find a career and figure out yourself and the world around you.”

Why paid internships matter

As West L.A. College prepares to grow the program, Tavares says next year’s interns will also be compensated. “We emphasize the fact that these students are not free labor,” she says. “We want them to know that their time, their energy is valued.”

Tavares is now on the hunt for more partners, but she says she’s picky about selecting new work sites. One non-negotiable: Interested partners must identify a mentor who will dedicate themselves to the students’ growth.

It's also important to establish an enduring professional relationship, To says. This was her first time partnering with West L.A. College, but she's had other interns. Each time she works with newcomers, she makes it a point to tell them that she’s now part of their network: "If you have questions in the future," she says, "or if you need a letter of recommendation, I'm here."