Leader News Eaton ’23 Thrives At Johns Hopkins Summer Program

August 30, 2022

A Hawks in Flight Feature

Paige Eaton ’23 spent her summer as an undergraduate researcher at the John Hopkins University Humanities Collaboratory. Its Leadership Alliance’s Summer Research Early Identification Program is a fully paid summer internship that provides undergraduates with training and mentoring in preparing research projects and pursuing admission to graduate and doctoral programs.

Eaton, a History major, is very involved at Hartwick – she is a Writing Center Consultant, varsity athlete, and Dean’s List member, among other things – so it’s no surprise she enrolled in what she calls an “intense” summer program.

Along with developing a complex research project – she examined how white supremacist groups have reacted to an upcoming Amazon series that offers a portrayal of author J.R.R. Tolkien’s work as more diverse than the films and books – she also presented her work to audiences at Johns Hopkins and the program’s national symposium in Hartford, CT.

“The national symposium was great,” she says. “I gained so many opportunities, and made some great new friends, expanding my network. Going up to the presentation I had my doubts, but it turns out I was very prepared and it felt easy to share what I had worked so hard on.”

It wasn’t all about work, however, as she also took advantage of the perks of living in a major city, citing trips to local museums as a particular highlight.

Her experience interacting with peers and instructors helped affirm that graduate school was the next step for her.

She urges fellow students to pursue summer programs, but not just settle for any program that accepts you. “Find the program that will support you the most,” she says. “You can get unpaid internships anywhere. Find one that will support you as a student (financially). Find where the money is, as this will open doors to other opportunities like grad schools.”