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VOCARE SUMMER FELLOWS PROGRAM

Male student performing air monitoring research outside

About the Program

Grounded in our belief that advancing the common good is an indispensable ingredient of meaningful work, the Vocare Summer Fellows Program encourages students to build a just and peaceful world. While these can take many forms, these internships should be grounded in the  and thus:

  • Provide public service to the community with a special concern for the poor and compassion for the suffering;

  • Respect a worldview that recognizes that all creation is sacred and that fosters responsible stewardship of the environment;

  • Better the human condition for all people.

The program offers summer grants up to $5,000 to pursue unpaid summer internships at not-for-profit organizations and other institutions that promote justice or the common good. This program hopes to help you engage in service experiences and research both locally and globally to learn from others, find your calling, and expand your imagination when thinking about your professional life. 

Application Process

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Applicants must submit the following via the form linked on SharePoint.  

A proposal that includes:

  • A description of the work you will do during the internship
  • An explanation of how this experience will promote justice/the common good in alignment with Villanova's mission and community ideals
  • Rationale for how the program or experience will enhance your education, professional, or vocational goals 

Students must also submit:

  • Detailed budget for necessary expenses
  • Current resume
  • Current unofficial or official transcript
  • Offer letter for the unpaid internship from the nonprofit organization
  • Recommendation from a ÃÛÌÒTV Faculty member submitted via Qualtrics form(the link will be available on SharePoint)
Eligibility: Vocare Summer Fellows must be first-, second-, or third-year Honors students in good academic standing and must have received the offer for the position at the time funding is awarded.* Eligible internships must take place at nonprofit organizations or other institutions that promote justice or the common good. Only unpaid internships are eligible. The internship should also help to serve your academic, professional, or vocational goals.
 
Evaluation of student proposals will be based on:  
  1. Articulation of the project
  2. Its promotion of justice
  3. Strength of the application materials

Hear from Our Fellows

2022 Vocare Summer Fellows speak about their internship experiences

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through the honors program I
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participated in the Vare program the
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voare program is a experience given to
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honor students in the summer to uh
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receive funding for a unpaid nonprofit
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internship um so over the summer I had
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the experience of working at a nonprofit
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um local to the Greater King of Prussia
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area called MIT of a Circle and I am
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really appreciative for honors for
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providing me the funding because
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otherwise I wouldn't have been able to
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do this experience and through it I
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learned the importance of vocation and
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that work can be meaningful and
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impactful to my community and I'm really
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appreciate it for that I did my
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internship in NYU lingo Brooklyn and G
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it's a volunteer program where um
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students work in the emergency rooms
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with the doctors and the nurses and the
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patients for 12 weeks you really get a
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taste of what it's like to work in
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healthcare and the struggles that people
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go through as patients so I'm Premed so
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I want to be a doctor one day um and on
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paper it really I got almost 300
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clinical hours which is really awesome
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not on paper I got firsthand experience
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in healthcare that a lot of people won't
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ever have I think that that has
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solidified for me that I want to be a
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physician um and I want to help people
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and I want to work with people who are
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underserved and help fix those
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disparities in health care so I chose to
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work with the Bicycle Coalition of
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Greater Philadelphia this past summer
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and that was an amazing experience so my
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specific role was that I created uh
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numerous videos and promotional
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materials um for the Youth cycling
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program it gives youth in Philly the
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opportunity to remain physically healthy
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mentally healthy to bond with fellow
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cyclists and to really just push the
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limits on what they can achieve so all
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in all I'm just really grateful for my
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experience with bcyc throughout the
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summer it introduced me to really
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passionate figures in the world of
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cycling and um Community Development and
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it also allowed me to dive head first
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into the world of uh media production
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and marketing um and just to combine
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those interests in the same experience
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was just invaluable and I'm just so
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thankful for the honors program for
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giving me the opportunity to receive
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funded for this experience because
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without them it probably would not have
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been
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possible

Austin Glass '22 speaks about his internship experience

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This past summer I worked with a local  non-profit called the Joy of Sox. They primarily 
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serve people experiencing homelessness  by providing them with socks 
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and just generally promoting healthy foot care.
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The most exciting part about my  experience was the opportunity to see 
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kind of the totality of the non-profit  from donation to actually providing those 
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experiencing homelessness with socks.  Because it was a smaller non-profit, 
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I had that chance to see it from end to end,  and that was really a great opportunity.
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This experience impacted my professional goals. It  confirmed that I want to work in a space where I'm 
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kind of leveraging my skills  from my business education 
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and my economics understanding in a  way that kind of serves social good, 
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working across the private and public sector to  meet the needs of those experiencing homelessness.
00:59
The Vocare funding was extremely impactful  for me because it really gave me this chance 
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to do this internship. I would not have had kind  of the confidence approaching something like this 
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in the non-profit world without knowing that I  was going to have costs covered. It was a really 
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great way that I could take that step forward in  my career and kind of professional aspirations. 
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Additionally, I do plan on attending law school  down the road. Having funding and kind of being 
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sure that I was financially stable doing  this internship was really important to me.

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