Turning Internship into Career: Developing a Vision for the World I Want to Help Create
Andreina Fernandez graduated with an MA in Women’s Studies and Graduate Certificate in Latin American Studies in 2020. She works in book publishing at the University of North Carolina Press and as Operations Manager for Girls Rock North Carolina.
I find myself applying the skills and knowledge I learned during my time in the MA program at the Center in all aspects of my personal and professional life. My graduate work at the Center fundamentally changed the way I interact with the world and what I see and analyze in each situation.
My current work is highly impacted by my graduate studies at the Center for Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies Research. The MA program provided me with an interdisciplinary education that I was able to tailor to my interests and strengths. During my time in the program, I completed an internship with the University Press of Florida. This opportunity was essential to get my foot in the door in publishing and gain experience in the industry in order to secure a full-time position. My interdisciplinary education at the Center and my studies with incredible professors like Dr. Jillian Hernandez, Dr. Manoucheka Celeste, and Dr. Tanya Saunders taught me how to engage generatively with complex academic texts and how to write and develop accessible academic work. These skills have been indispensable in my work at the University of North Carolina Press (UNCP), where I work on a variety of academic and general interest manuscripts and guide authors through the peer review process and towards publication. Because of my education in Women’s Studies, I’m able to engage meaningfully with academic work in many different disciplines, provide feedback to authors on clarity of argument, writing style and organization, and help authors make the most of the peer review process. My women’s studies graduate education helped me to develop practical skills that I need in order to be an effective editor, but more than that, it provided me with essential context to understand the vast issues of equity and marginalization that impact publishing writ large, including the people in publishing, from interns to authors.
In addition to my work with UNCP, I also work with Girls Rock North Carolina, a youth-centered organization dedicated to building community and power among girls, transgender youth, and gender expansive youth through musical collaboration, political education for social change, and creative expression. Dr. Jillian Hernandez’s teachings in Critical Girlhood Studies and the non-profit industrial complex provided essential context for the work I do with Girls Rock, where I work to create empowering experiences for girls and queer youth. I collaborate with a team of dedicated staff and volunteers to reimagine the organization’s role in our community and ensure we are using our resources to effectively support our community.
My women’s studies education is a foundation for all the work I do but my experience at the Center has had a deeper impact on my life than the practical skills and knowledge I’ve been able to apply to my professional life. The MA program was an immense growth opportunity for me and allowed me to develop my interests, knowledge base, and interpersonal communication. Through the guidance of my brilliant professors and peers at the Center, I was able to explore how my own identities have impacted my life, situate myself in the world around me, understand my own positionality, and develop my own vision for the world I want to help create.