Summer 2021 was Year 2 for the Ethics and the Professions Internship Program. With continued COVID-19 precautions and thanks to the ongoing flexibility of interns and placement hosts alike, each intern held a remote internship at one of 3 partner organizations.
The intern cohort also had the opportunity to hear from 3 outstanding guest speakers throughout the 8-week experience. Over Zoom, these professionals shared about their own vocational journeys, complex ethical decisions, leadership choices, and personal values:
DBI also hosted an Ethics in the Community storytelling experience over Zoom specifically for EPI interns, plus a fellow UP undergraduate guest they each invited. Practicing and retired professionals from around Portland and beyond shared real-life ethical dilemmas from their work and personal lives, engaging the students in dialogue about the varying priorities, important questions, and decision-making habits that surrounded these situations.
Stemming from the richness of their internship tasks, their ethical conversations, and their discussions with guest speakers, students chose diverse topics to delve into for their individual independent Ethics Exploration projects. Topics included faith in the workplace, privacy and journalism, the benefits of confrontation, clinical ethics and houselessness, humanistic leadership, and community-centric fundraising.
To learn more about some of the Summer 2021 EPI experiences of our interns, check out the profiles below!
Asia Gates
- Class of 2021
EPI Internship: WorldOregon
"With the emphasis of ethics in the internship, I have noticed the intertwining of ethics, my strengths, and who I hope to be in the future all intersect. With this new awareness, I hope to hold onto my ethical takeaways to carry with me in future ventures."
McKenzie Clark
- Class of 2023
EPI Internship: WorldOregon
"The internship allowed me to explore a professional space that had been previously closed to me. I was able to apply techniques and theories that I had learned in the classroom to the work that I was doing at the organization. The application of skills into the real-world was invaluable. "
Riley Bass
- Class of 2022
EPI Internship: Portland Monthly Magazine
"Understanding the value of other people’s time and wisdom is something that I will carry with me forever. Everyone has something to teach you if you take the time to listen and ask the right questions, so don’t be afraid of the conversation! I’ll be able to take that skill and appreciation with me whether it is during a professional interview or while getting coffee with a new friend. "
Tim Arifdjanov
- Class of 2023
EPI Internship: Catholic Charities Oregon
"I applied because I have an interest in ethics and wanted an internship where I could do good work. I have always been someone who enjoys thinking about how I can live a good life and do the right thing. This internship fit right into that, so I knew it would be something I enjoyed, and it was an experience I wanted to be a part of. "
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