In addition to the $1,000 every student receives for an internship between their junior and senior year, Moore offers students the opportunity to apply for fellowships and scholarships that support them financially as they refine their skills, travel abroad and pursue their dreams.
Read on to meet Lauren Balogh ’24, a multi-fellowship winner who interned at Awesome Dudes Printing in South Philadelphia and traveled to Italy to study concert posters in 2023.
When it came time to find an internship, Lauren Balogh ‘24 hit the pavement.
With the help of Dana Cornacchio, assistant director of the Locks Career, Balogh discovered she wanted to try something new. She and Cornacchio worked closely together during the beginning of her application process to figure out her next steps.
“Dana was a huge help with reviewing my resume and my cover letter materials, and giving me some really good notes on how to make them better. She was also a good resource for finding different places to apply,” Balogh said. “She gave me a list of employers that were coming to Moore, and that’s where I got the notion that I wanted to try screen printing. I went down the rabbit hole with her from there.”
She researched small print shops that could give her hands-on experience with artistic, thoughtful design and visited them in person. The team at Awesome Dudes Printing in South Philadelphia told her their internship program wasn’t listed on their website because they wanted to hire someone who truly wanted to learn from them.
That someone turned out to be Balogh, who spent summer 2023 working closely with the team at Awesome Dudes to learn screen printing essentials. As a recipient of The Penny Fox Internship Fellowship, she put the fellowship’s financial award toward her living expenses, with some left over for new equipment and supplies.
Balogh's internship gave her the space to design products for Awesome Dudes and for her own small shop.
Balogh grew as both an artist and a person during her internship. She worked on her own passion projects at the shop, designing and printing items like T-shirts, stickers, promotional postcards, and an A-frame sidewalk sign. She even got some one-on-one time to collaborate with Awesome Dudes’ owner, Sean Doherty.
“They go through teaching you the entire process from start to finish because the owner believes that to make a good print, you've got to know the whole process inside and out. You just have to have a good design,” Balogh said.
One of Balogh's most popular items is the "Shorebirds of New Jersey" T-shirt she designed during her internship.
When American Apparel came by to market a reissued T-shirt design to printers, they turned the shop into a nightclub for the evening. That night, and throughout her internship, Balogh said she learned to step outside her comfort zone.
“I tend to be kind of reserved in group situations [but] the size of the company didn’t allow you to be anonymous,” she said. “I was able to build friendships with all of the employees and pick their brains for insights on how to get started as an artist and as a small business.”
Balogh is also part of the Visionary Honors Program and a recipient of the Jane Walentas ’66 Endowed Scholarship and International Travel Fellowship, an award for which she was nominated. Before her internship began, she put the scholarship towards a trip to the Slam Dunk Festival in Rimini, Italy, where she studied concert posters and musician merchandise for her senior thesis.
Balogh saw the sights and lots of concert merchandise on her trip to Italy.
Looking back to the beginning of her time at Moore, Balogh said she “wouldn’t be getting her degree” without programs like Visionary Honors. For students who also have big dreams but may not know where to find the right resources, Balogh has a unique piece of advice: “Be annoying.”
“If you don’t know who to talk to, walk into somebody’s office and ask who you’re supposed to talk to,” she said. “Nobody’s going to get mad at you for asking questions, but you’re not going to get anywhere if you don’t ask.”
Want to learn more about fellowships and scholarships for travel, internships, and more? Schedule an appointment with the Locks Career Center Director Shakeyia Kersey at skersey@moore.edu or 215.965.4010. You can also check out the Fellowships and Senior Awards Lib Guide for more helpful information here.
Photos courtesy of Lauren Balogh ’24.
