Westmont Magazine A Professional Experience with the Pops

A Westmont Student Gains a Coveted Internship with the Pasadena Pops

Outside in the dusty summer air, Callan Kaut ’08 sets up chairs for a concert. The college student is supervising helpful volunteers, many much older than she is. Together they turn a grassy field into a venue for the Pasadena Pops Orchestra, where musicians will play to trees, insects and appreciative fans.

As an intern for the orchestra, Callan worked in the office, answered phones and designed invitations and marketing materials when she wasn’t getting ready for a concert. The music lover got the position through the prestigious Community Service Intern Corps. Parsons Corp. sponsored her internship.

“I was looking for more than just a summer job,” Callan says. “I wanted to get some professional experience.” She especially appreciated the leadership training. Every Friday the interns met and heard speakers such as CEOs and high-ranking officials from Merrill Lynch, Capital Group and other companies.

“The best thing about the program was the emphasis on networking,” she says. “We learned how to make connections. The interns were some of the smartest people I have ever met. We kept in touch by e-mail, and their communication skills and originality impressed me. I plan to stay in contact with them.”

Although Callan played French horn and piano in high school, she majors in biochemistry at Westmont and hopes to become a pediatrician. “Doctors without Borders is very interesting to me,” she says. She came to Westmont because she knew the science program was very good and she wanted a small school.

Working with the Pasadena Pops’ education program, offered at three high schools, exposed Callan to another career possibility: teaching. Assisting Professor Niva Tro while he writes a chemistry textbook has also increased her interest in education. “It was inspiring to see how much the kids learned when the conductor spoke to them,” she says. “I’d like to make that kind of difference in children’s lives.”