When I applied to Yale, I had a vision of college that wasn’t confined to the classroom. I imagined my education spilling into the world—taking root in conversations, internships, and the kinds of lived experiences that would shape not just what I knew, but who I was becoming. The Summer Experience Award (SEA) makes that possible.
This summer, I’m interning with Religions for Peace International at their Secretariat Office in New York City, supporting global initiatives for interfaith cooperation and peacebuilding. It’s work that sits at the crossroads of diplomacy, religion, and social justice—exactly where I want to be. But as is the case with so many formative opportunities, the role is unpaid. Without funding, I might have had to decline it. That’s where the SEA came in.
Yale’s Summer Experience Award provides financial support for students pursuing unpaid or underfunded internships in nonprofit, government, or arts sectors. The process is straightforward—submit a brief application, provide documentation from your host organization, and verify your experience aligns with the program’s guidelines. And in return, Yale covers your cost of living for the summer, so that what you pursue can be guided by passion, not financial constraint.
That’s a powerful thing.
Because the truth is, the most meaningful internships often aren’t the ones that come with paychecks. They’re the ones that come with purpose—the ones in humanitarian NGOs, civic organizations, public agencies, and cultural institutions where you learn to think with complexity, work with care, and contribute to something larger than yourself. But those internships can also be out of reach without support. The SEA makes sure they’re not.
At Religions for Peace, I’ll be joining a 50-year-old coalition with deep ties to the United Nations and the global interfaith community. I’ll support strategic planning, help implement projects related to religious freedom and climate justice, and assist with preparations for the next World Assembly, where religious leaders from over 125 countries convene. I’ll be helping to tell the story of religion as a force for good in a world that too often misunderstands it.
And I’ll be doing that not because I could afford to work for free—but because Yale made sure I didn’t have to.
This is what makes Yale different. Not just that it offers world-class academics, but that it backs its students with concrete support for bringing their interests to life. At Yale, learning isn’t confined to syllabi. It’s field-tested. It’s global. And it’s deeply human.
The SEA is more than a stipend—it’s a statement. It says that Yale believes in the value of public service, in the worth of nonprofit work, and in the potential of its students to help change the world if given the chance. And it turns that belief into something tangible.
So if you’re a prospective student reading this, wondering if a place like Yale could really help you pursue your goals—my answer is yes. Not just in the abstract, but in the practical. Yale gives you the tools, the mentors, and the institutional commitment to chase what matters. And sometimes, it even picks up the bill.
