Marianne became an intern prior to her senior year at the University of Notre Dame, where she had been double majoring in Psychology and Spanish. Before Project L/EARN, she had been unsure of her educational goals, but over the course of that summer discovered a newfound interest in Public Health. Public Health interested Marianne due to the breadth of its subject matter and wide range of long-term professional opportunities. One of Marianne’s aspirations at the time of her internship included working as a research assistant at the “Me & My Family Project” within the Marital Conflict lab at the University of Notre Dame.

Marianne had applied to Project L/EARN because she felt, “It provided the training I needed in research methods, analytical writing, as well as hands-on experience with SPSS and SAS.” Another highlight of this “invaluable experience” for her had been the ability to build a close rapport with her mentor as well as her fellow interns.