This summer, Anna Brittan, a BSSCD student at UMass, held two positions in the LARP Department, which helped her to achieve a year-long Planning & Development Internship with the City of Chicopee.
Brittan began the summer as the LARP Work Study in the Design Building Administration Office. Here, Brittan became invested in the department's culture of interdisciplinary learning, relationship-building, and envisioning a more beautiful and better functioning world. Brittan's daily tasks included managing the office's front desk and connecting students and faculty with department resources. They also spearheaded special projects, contributed to department events and programming, and learned about the different careers that LARP degrees can lead to.
Alongside this role, Brittan was the Research & Writing Assistant to a UMass Regional Planning PhD candidate. Brittan helped the candidate apply final edits to their doctoral dissertation, which included creating and cross-checking bibliographies and editing the dissertation's chapter texts. Brittan found that the experience was a great way to soak up research in the regional planning field, sharpen their own writing skills, and make connections across the UMass campus.
As Brittan gears up for their senior year at UMass, they are excited to delve into the processes of city planning as a Planning & Development Intern with the City of Chicopee. Brittan will learn about project management and development, local resource programming, and the department's community engagement efforts. Brittan also plans to conduct research on worker-owner co-op structures and resilient food systems for their honors thesis.
"I've already learned so much from my colleagues just in my first couple weeks. It feels great to be a part of this department that is constantly working to impact positive changes in the city," said Brittan.