Internship Reality

Amber McGarvey ’15 and Courtney Wojcik ’17’s environmentally based internship makes the small screen

By MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson

Growing up in New Jersey, Amber McGarvey ’15 and Courtney Wojcik ’17 had heard a lot of buzz about TerraCycle, a Princeton-based recycling/upcycling company that's been named one of the fastest-growing green companies in the world. Still, they were surprised when they reported to work for their first day as TerraCycle interns and learned that a camera crew would be filming a documentary on site, highlighting the company's distinctive culture and leading-edge work.

The television series, Human Resources, is not your typical reality-TV show. It's produced by Participant Media, a company that uses film, television, publishing and digital content to effect social change (past projects include An Inconvenient Truth, Food, Inc., Waiting for Superman and Lincoln).

McGarvey, a rising senior with previous internship experience at a small nonprofit, earned a summer position in the company’s executive office. Wojcik, a rising sophomore, cut her internship teeth in TerraCycle’s accounts-management department. Below, they discuss what they’ve learned during these uncommon internships, as well as what it's like when your internship reality meets reality TV.

Major(s):

Wojcik: Not yet declared.

McGarvey: environmental science and history.

Activities/ Organizations:

Wojcik: Reinvest Dickinson, Phoenix and EarthNow.

McGarvey: Jive Turkeys Ultimate Frisbee Club, Eco-Rep, Feminist Collective and first-year mentor.

On choosing this internship:

Wojcik: I wanted to intern with a local business that was sustainability-minded, and since I worked with [TerraCycle] in high school—while I was earning my Girl Scout Silver Award—I knew it would be a perfect fit.

McGarvey: I heard a lot about TerraCycle through press coverage, and I kept it in the back of my mind as a company that I should one day get involved with. Then, last year, while I was studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark, I e-mailed [my future supervisor at TerraCycle], and she told me I was a strong fit. 

Job responsibilities:

Wojcik: I usually start each day by helping my account manager with smaller tasks, such as updating Excel data, checking social-media activity and creating PowerPoint presentations to be used in meetings with our brand partners. Then I work on long-term research projects that involve [TerraCycle’s] partnership with [my supervisor's] biggest client.

McGarvey: I research potential partners and investors and then present [my findings] to the company’s global vice presidents. I also update databases and work on projects. One [project involves] streamlining assessments that show how much greenhouse gas TerraCycle has prevented from being released into the atmosphere. We also just launched a cigarette-butt recycling program in New Orleans that reduces pollution, turns litter into recycled plastic products and even raises money for charity.

On what it’s like to take part in a workplace documentary:

Wojcik: I found out about [Human Resources] on my first day, when I walked into the middle of a scene being filmed in my department! I was pretty excited about the prospect of being on TV, and I loved that the experience just added to TerraCycle's quirkiness.

McGarvey: It’s been fascinating to watch reality TV being filmed in front of me all summer. They were always filming around my desk with a crew of about five people, and at first, I was afraid to get up and walk through or behind the shot. Eventually, I realized that they really are trying to catch footage of normal workplace culture, so I shouldn't feel like I need to avoid the cameras. 

Advice to students considering internships:

McGarvey: Get to know other interns and staff members. [My supervisor] encouraged me to organize an intern social committee. We planned excursions to restaurants and to places like a local museum and a minor-league baseball game. This allowed me to make valuable connections with interns and with staff members who also attended.

Wojcik: Take an internship! Whether paid or unpaid, internships allow you to get your feet wet and gain knowledge, skills, experience and connections.

On the joy of mealtime mentorship:

Wojcik: The Intern Lunch [a twice-weekly program that brings interns together with employees who enjoy mentoring] is the best part of the day. A senior employee at TerraCycle—even the CEO, Tom Szaky—will sit down with the interns for an hour to talk about our career paths and give us professional advice.

McGarvey: I help my supervisor run [the Intern Lunch]; I love it, because have learned so much about my co-workers. They each have unique stories about how they ended up working at an environmentally conscious company. They’ve taught me valuable lessons about how to navigate professional life.

Learn more

• Human Resources: Talkin’ Trash
• Interns in Action
• Internship Notation Program
• "A Little of Everything"
• "Exploring Cognition"
• Sustainability at Dickinson
• Latest News

Published August 20, 2014