Summer Intern Spotlight: Gabby P.

What led you to apply for the Prospective Student Outreach Internship?
"A lot of the work I’m doing has been on my mind for a long time. As a Jewish Day school student, I didn’t realize UVA could be such a home for Jewish students, and I feel lucky that I was able to find it as a prospective student and feel better about my decision. I want all prospective Jewish high school students to keep UVA as an option and not miss out on it due to a lack of Jewish representation. This position kind of came out of my desire to highlight UVA as a jewish destination for college students. 

What are you working on this summer?

• Kosher/Halal food station partnership in the dining halls.
• Setting up meetings to speak with Jewish day schools about UVA's Jewish community.
• Virtual tours and the prospective student page on the BJC website. 
• Infographics and presentations about Hillel at UVA for prospective students. 
• Virtual College Road trip partnership with JumpSpark ATL. 
• Working with Jewish guides to think about how to talk about UVA Jewish life with prospective students.
• Thinking of a more established/streamline outreach program and welcome for visiting families. 

Does this internship connect to your academic/professional goals?
"Rabbi Jake summarized an approach on how to have difficult conversations which I really liked. It felt really important to learn. It was an especially great approach for having dialogue about Israel."

Anything you’ve learned about yourself?
"I guess I’ve had a lot of time management practice because this is a very self-paced and self-motivated internship, and I have two other jobs. I’ve been really diligent about time management while taking time for myself too."

What's something you've learned or something that has motivated you during this internship?
"I think I'm really motivated by my values. If I'm doing a project that aligns with what I believe in, I get so excited and want to do it well. You can see that in the research I did in Senegal, my work with One for the World, and also in this Kosher/Halal Food Station idea that I'm working on."
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​Gabby is a rising fourth year student working on prospective student outreach this summer, with the goal of introducing Jewish high school students to the UVA Jewish community as they are applying to colleges. She has also been working on initiatives that will help UVA attract more Jewish students, such as the Kosher+Halal dining station on Grounds in partnership with the Muslim Student Association. Gabby is a student in the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and also studying economics. She looks to "engineer creative solutions to pressing global humanitarian problems."