2023 Bergmeyer x PIC Summer Design Internship Program
Every summer, the City of Boston and the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC) work together to place thousands of Boston Public School (BPS) students in paid summer internships with companies and organizations throughout the city. This program called the Mayor’s Summer Jobs Program, gives students a look inside the work fields that interest them, allowing them to begin to prepare for future employment.
Bergmeyer participated in the program for several years when the PIC reached out to the Boston Society of Architecture (BSA) about getting architecture firms involved in the program. Together with the BSA, Bergmeyer and several other firms in the city worked to design this internship with the goal of providing an immersive educational experience where interns get to experience and learn about architecture and design.
2023 Bergmeyer x PIC Summer Intern Profiles
This past summer we enthusiastically welcomed Raysa Mendoza and Zeron Thach to join our architects and designers for 6 weeks:
Zeron was born in Osaka, Japan, raised in Cam Ranh, Vietnam, and educated in Boston, Massachusetts. He is looking forward to majoring in Mechanical engineering at UMass Amherst, class of 2027, and architecture at Northeastern University the following year.
Raysa is a first-generation incoming freshman at Boston University with a major in architecture studies and a minor in Korean. She’s fascinated with the art of design and learning about new cultures and how they impact one another.
What Did We Plan?
Working alongside our architects and designers, Rasya and Zeron faced weekly design challenges to solve. Together they developed a strategy, came to agreement on a schedule for what they will produce, and separately did research to pull together various images and concepts for review.
They then focused on the programming and schematic design phases to communicate their ideas in a presentation format to a group of Bergies. This experience allowed Zeron and Raysa to develop their skills, receive feedback, and build on each week’s challenge to evolve their design process and thinking.
While the internship program's goal was to provide an educational design experience, we also exposed them to how Bergmeyer operates and what tools we use to assist our project work. We accomplished this through spontaneous field trips around Boston discussing where materials touch, how light exposes life, and the importance of universal design revolving around the people who experience the spaces. We also held classes to demo other digital design tools for production and rendering.
Scroll through the slideshow to view photos from Zeron and Raysa's experience at Bergmeyer.
Feedback from Raysa and Zeron
Raysa
Q: Are there any things that surprised you while you were there? Any areas of interest that you hadn't thought about before but would consider pursuing in the future as a result of interning with Bergmeyer?
Something that surprised me a lot is the number of details that this career requires and the thought process behind each project. I always thought of architecture as a broad idea but working at Bergmeyer helped me realize the amount of dedication a project requires. An area of interest that grew more as a result of this internship was interior architecture along with interior design that I might pursue in the future.
Q: How was your experience with Bergmeyer? What were some of the highlights of your time here?
I would describe my experience at Bergmeyer as valuable. I met people who are truly passionate about their jobs and get excited when they have the opportunity to share their knowledge with others, especially with the youth. One of my favorite highlights of my time here at Bergmeyer is going on “field trips” around the neighborhood and having someone with experience guide us through it while telling us architectural decisions and facts that I wouldn’t notice on my daily walks around Boston.
Zeron
Q: How was your experience with Bergmeyer? What were some of the highlights of your time here?
The people in Bergmeyer are friendly. It is always nerve-wracking to enter a new environment, especially when everyone is an expert in the field. However, everyone here is enthusiastic about information and learning. No matter who it is from. Tools like Miro, which has become my favorite way to present my ideas brainstorm, and sketch up help me clearly envision ideas and build upon them.
Q: What was the most prominent aspect you took away from this experience? What do you think is really going to stick with you?
The best way to learn about architecture is by going outside and admiring the city around you. The trips that we go on every week made me more observant of the world around me. Every time I see a unique design or something out of place, I wonder about the objective of the architect. Being surrounded by people who love architecture motivates me to do better. All the feedback allows me to improve upon my projects, which are ever-changing.
Last Thoughts
Although this year's summer internship has ended and Raysa & Zeron have started a new adventure heading to college, our door is always open to them and previous interns for mentoring support as their career paths unfold.
While the primary aim of this internship program is to offer students an educational design experience, it is undeniable that we will cherish the valuable insights from collaborating with these talented and driven students as well.
We thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated having Raysa and Zeron spend time with us, wish them all the best in their future endeavors, and look forward to continuing our partnership with the Mayor's Summer Jobs Program.
..Once a Bergie, always a Bergie!
As we continue to build and reimagine our program from the feedback provided by our interns and our team, what would you want to be exposed to if you had the opportunity to spend 6 weeks interning with us? Reach out to us at careers@bergmeyer.com!