Since early 2024, the Monarch Humanities Internship Academy has provided a unique, grant-funded opportunity for students in humanities disciplines to receive paid, hands-on experience to help forge a pathway to a career.
For Michael Harrington, who graduated in May from the Department of English as a Technical Writing major, this opportunity paid off — two times. And along the way, Harrington discovered he has a talent for website design.
“I’m an artistic person,” said Harrington, who is from Virginia Beach via New York and Atlanta. “I like drawing, illustrating, writing all that stuff. And so, when I get to design, it's bringing the expression of who I am, or who the organization is. In a way, you’re telling a story, right?”
The “story” that Harrington told for the Downtown Norfolk Community Garden resulted in a new, for the community serving organization.
“Michael’s support for the community garden was immeasurable,” said John Miller, co-founder and manager of the Downtown Norfolk Community Garden. “We challenged him to explore, develop, and broaden his hard skills and he masterfully built our new website without any previous experience. He demonstrates the tremendous value and mutual benefit of the Թϱ internship program as students cultivate new skills and bring immediate value to organizations.”
Harrington surprised himself with how naturally he took to website design and thinks his Թϱ major helped with the process. “I kind of chalk up my success as a designer to the technical writing courses that I got to take, and the feedback I got from the professors teaching these courses.”
Harrington was also one of the first volunteers for the Monarch Humanities Internship Academy Program, participating in the Spring 2025 Innovate Humanities design-thinking workshops, hosted by Dr. Karen Sanzo, professor and executive director for the Center for Educational Innovation and Opportunity.
In that multi-day workshop, Harrington was tasked with designing a tool for Humanities students to use when seeking the perfect internship opportunity. He said the process was daunting at first but ultimately empowering.
“Once I got into the process of making and designing, and just participating, it was a great learning experience for me.”
The experience energized Harrington, who went on to complete another MHIA-supported internship with Compact Canine Rescue, a nonprofit that rescues dogs through in-home fostering.
With two MHIA-supported internships and one design-thinking workshop under his belt, Harrington was eager to jump into the workforce. His plan is to find a job in web design or content creation. “I hope with the experience I’ve gained along the way I can get into a job that allows me to showcase what I’ve learned throughout the internship program,” Harrington said.
Harrington is happy to evangelize on behalf of the .
“It wasn’t something I was aware about until I was in the Innovate Humanities workshop,” he said. “But once I had my second internship I was like, ‘Wait a minute. This is an experience my older brother and sister (who also went to Թϱ) didn’t have.’ I realize how lucky I was to take part. I’ve had a great time and was able to learn more about design, which has been a real plus.
“These resources are definitely helping students. And I'm proof of that.”