By Gillian Jasper 

Do you see some new faces around JCC and wonder who we are? My name is Gillian Jasper, I am 21 years old, and in the PAVE program. I am the JCC Marketing and Cafe J Intern for the year. 

I like playing basketball, soccer, and running track. I have been president of a sports team, Unified Sports in high school, and played on the team for 5 years. I have an older sister, Gabrielle, an older brother, Adam, and a Puggle, Charlie. In the past, I have interned at a bakery and a daycare. One of my jobs before starting PAVE was cleaning a church.

As I have conducted an interview with my fellow PAVE interns, they will describe what this program is from their point of view. As I know it, it is a Work-Based Learning internship program that stands for Partnership Achievement through Vocational Experience, it is an internship program. You have to apply for it, go through an interview, then finally, if you are accepted, you are assigned a worksite. 

This is unpaid, and does not guarantee you a job at the end, but admits in the program learn skills such as: professionalism, office skills and customer service skills, Some examples of worksites include: JCC Of Greater New Haven, Yale New Haven Hospital, and Whelen Engineering Company Inc. 

First, I would like to introduce you to Margaret, she likes to help people. She had two dogs as a child. She is a twin, has 3 sisters, and an older brother. In her words, this program is like an internship,” so she is working at JCC, and likes it so far.” She is in the program because she wants to get more experience before she gets a real job. So far, she likes the different things because she has a better understanding of what business looks like.

She works in the cafe, the gym, and the spa. In the past, she has done retail, the cafe, and English Chapel, where she did cleaning tasks. She enjoys repetitive office tasks, such as cutting envelopes.

Next up is Alex, he has a cat named Misty, a sister named Emily, and a brother named Nico. To him, “PAVE is work that we are good at.” He works in the Membership Services Office and Cafe J. Prior to starting this program, he says,“I just cleaned the toilets, sinks, and mirrors at English Chapel.” His dream job is making smoothies.

At Yale, interns assist with lab tasks, wipe down tables, package food items for the cafeteria and put silverware in packages. At Whelen, interns build lightbars for police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks. At JCC, interns do clerical work, customer service and stock food at Cafe J, work in the fitness center, and at the spa desk. 

If you see us around, feel free to say hi.