Page 22 - EUREKA Winter 2017

In real life

Shopify’s manager of external education programs Gail Carmichael (far left) has high hopes for the first cohort of Carleton interns.

Carleton’s new internship program with Shopify

takes experiential learning to a new level

By Dan Rubinstein which route to follow. Then a new their four-year Bachelor of Computer
Photos by Chris Roussakis option arose, and he jumped at the Science program. They’ll learn both in
opportunity. the classroom and by doing hands-on
Abdou Sarr had a difficult decision “This is perfect,” says Sarr, one of 11 work, with Shopify paying a salary and
to make. The talented tech- students enrolled in the first cohort covering their tuition as well.
minded teenager from Ottawa was of a multi-year internship created by Natalia Kingsbury, one of Sarr’s
considering computer science and Carleton and Shopify, the booming classmates in the program, wasn’t
business programs at several Ontario Ottawa-based commerce company. sure she wanted to go back to
universities. Sarr, who started coding “I’ll get real-world coding and business university. Originally from Colombia,
while in Grade 4 and developed a experience and all the benefits of a Kingsbury spent the final year of
relaxation app in high school that university degree.” her undergraduate Industrial Design
soared to the top of North American These Shopify internships will see program on exchange at Carleton in
sales charts after earning an students split their time between 2014, then worked in Ottawa for a
endorsement from rapper and tech the Carleton campus and Shopify’s couple years until reaching a career
investor Snoop Dogg, wasn’t sure downtown headquarters throughout crossroads. She first heard about

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