While many students lost work experience opportunities this summer because of COVID-19, Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects decided to host two virtual internships.
M&D’s 2020 summer interns Geoffrey Little and Harper Brockway
Architectural experience starts for many students long before they’ve earned a degree. In a world where graduates must prove themselves as the best candidate, everything from good grades, to digital design drawing capabilities and internship experience can help them get a foot in the door.
But when COVID-19 impacted the design and construction industry, many Architecture students found themselves without a firm to call their home for the summer. Losing that experience can not only make landing a job when you graduate that much harder, but it can hinder the student from learning some integral aspects of the industry, says Frank Dittenhafer II, FAIA, LEED AP, President of Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects.
While trying to smooth out the daily configurations for his own staff to work remotely from home at the start of stay-at-home orders, Dittenhafer decided his firm could do something creative to help college Architecture students get the experience they’d otherwise miss out on, offering virtual internships to two students: Harper Brockway ’21 of Penn State and Geoffrey Little ’23 of Thomas Jefferson University in Pennsylvania. Dittenhafer decided he wanted students to remember the Summer of 2020 for a reason other than all of the negative consequences of COVID-19 – and for a positive experience, albeit virtual.
The M&D team includes interns in their regular Zoom calls, giving students like Harper Brockway, center, the opportunity to listen in on recent work updates.
The evolution of work experience
Internships weren’t as common when Dittenhafer was an Architecture student at Penn State. He remembers one summer after his sophomore year when a small firm in Hanover let him “hang around,” he says. “It was great. I tried to listen to as many project conversations as I could, and I really absorbed a lot of what was just going on around me.”
When interns hang their hat at Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects, Dittenhafer tries to remove much of the mystery of what it means to be an Architect, and he hoped to continue that even with a virtual internship.
Dittenhafer started by “mapping out” what a virtual internship at M&D could look like – from developing four to five categories that could be a “tasting menu” of what they could expect to experience working at a firm.
M&D intern Harper Brockway has visited construction site as part of her learning experience with the firm.
From mentorship to internship
Harper Brockway fell in love with Architecture as a Dallastown High School student who tested her early skills in math and drawing. When she began her college education as an Architecture major at Penn State, she jumped at the opportunity to join the Stuckeman School’s mentorship program and learn from industry leaders.
“Frank has a lot of knowledge in his field, and I loved being able to connect with someone who loves York County as much as I do,” she says.
Dittenhafer started reviewing Brockway’s resume and portfolio and began coaching her to network. With another internship at a York firm already on Brockway’s resume, Dittenhafer encouraged her to look for opportunities outside of the York area – and to get a varied experience.
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“Firms are usually really eager to take on a summer intern, but things have looked very different since COVID,” Brockway says. “I wasn’t gaining any traction in my search.”
That’s when Dittenhafer offered to create a virtual internship to help her.
Since Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects brought her on as a virtual intern, Brockway has participated in Zoom calls with clients and in staff meetings to review projects. She’s also visited construction sites.
“I’ve learned a lot about how to collaborate with partners on a project and how important communication with a client can be, especially during uncertain circumstances,” Brockway says. “I miss being able to interact with people in person, but I have the freedom to hop on a variety of calls. It’s actually given me a chance to gain a broader experience.”
M&D intern Geoffrey Little helped the firm gather and refine digital drawing materials for award submissions and marketing materials.
Collaborating to create
Geoffrey Little found himself in a similar situation when he left Thomas Jefferson University to start taking online classes at his family home in Hanover. As the 2019 recipient of The Central Pennsylvania Architects Foundation Fund Architecture Scholarship, Little started reaching out to his connections, including Dittenhafer, who serves on the CPAFF scholarship committee.
At first, Dittenhafer wasn’t sure there would be an opportunity for Little, but he encouraged the Architecture student to stay in touch. Shortly after developing the virtual internship template, Dittenhafer called Little to see if he’d be interested in helping the firm gather and refine some digital drawing materials for recently completed M&D projects – which could be used for marketing purposes and AIA award submissions. Additionally, Frank offered that Little, like Brockway, could also visit some active Murphy & Dittenhafer construction sites with M&D Architects – and observe/participate in in a few other firm project related activities.
“In school, a lot of what I work on is related to my own ideas,” Little says. “Working with M&D has taught me to try to learn from the ideas of other Architects, why they chose a certain approach, and how they put something together for a client.”
There’s a lot that happens behind the scenes, before and after design work, that Little is learning through his virtual internship. As he considers getting back to his studies this fall, Little believes he’ll return to the classroom with a broader understanding of how the industry works.
“I used to think of Architecture as something that was successful because of the Architect alone,” Little says. “Firms like Murphy & Dittenhafer show you that it takes everyone contributing to create something meaningful.”
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