Meet the interns: Spring 2021

Simone Robinson, Shumate Council Intern

What's your hometown?
I'm from Columbus, Ohio. I was born and raised here.

Do you have a favorite thing about Columbus?
I've been here all my life. I would say my favorite thing is probably just the summer, like having COMFEST and the Asian festival to go to is a lot of fun. I love the Ohio State Fair. We didn't have it this past year because of COVID, but I used to love going there as a kid. I also enjoy the Short North area and the arts of Columbus in general. We have so many talented individuals within the community, and I am so grateful to… live in a city where the arts are valued. 

Did you pick up any hobbies during quarantine?
Nothing really new… I was doing more artwork. So I was just doing a lot of portraits [and] working on a lot of schoolwork. I try to just keep myself busy while I'm at home all day long. I also worked a lot [and] started tutoring, babysitting, and nursing [to keep] myself busy because I hate being stagnant. 

Are there any projects that you're currently looking forward to as an intern?
I just finished [an essay] about the arts within the prison systems. I heard a podcast… called Ear Hustle and the Power of Listening, and it was about people in prison, their lives behind bars, and their lives before they were locked up… I wrote about education in the prison system and how not many prisons have a really strong art education background. And so my mentor saw the paper, and she wants to publish it. So I'm working on that currently and getting that to be published and out to the public.

Working on this piece has taught me so much about what it means to be a free person in 2020. It taught me the privilege I have of being educated and having access to technology. Many people do not realize that prisons across the country have struggled academically during COVID-19, just like the rest of the country. Arguably, prisons have probably struggled the most due to a lack of access to technology such as computers, tablets, and laptops. This makes Zoom or online classes very difficult, and I feel like people should be aware. 

What connects you to the arts and the Wex?
Ohio State because it's right there on campus.It's just nice having that access to an art museum right on campus. I've been going there since I was a child. My middle school would take trips there, same as my high school. I've always had a connection to the Wexner Center, so when I went to Ohio State for the art program, it was just convenient for me. And I was just used to it. I kind of grew up in this area. Also, my grandmother went to OSU to study the arts as well, so I feel deeply rooted within the arts and sciences at Ohio State. When she went to OSU, she told me that it was diverse, which kind of makes me curious about what changed between her time at OSU and mine. I have only really seen about two people of color within my department. This is a major theme that I am researching within my internship. 

Where do you see yourself a year from now?
So I have a plan. What I want to do for my career is biomedical illustration. I want to illustrate medical textbooks and do hospital advertisements. I'm planning on graduating this summer then taking a semester off and then applying to graduate school. I also plan on taking a gap semester and just teaching. I love teaching art to kids, and I would not mind working from home with various young artists.

What is your favorite photo you have ever taken?
This is a picture of my mother and me in Haiti (above). We spent about two weeks there helping the Haitian people with daily needs. We helped build about three homes, fed infants, and got a chance to tour the country and meet the Haitian people.

Ashlee Lehr, PR/Content Intern

What's your hometown?
I am from Kansas City, Missouri.

Do you have a favorite thing about Columbus?
It just feels like home. Very Midwestern… The Short North, the Italian Village, even Grandview, all the different neighborhoods. It all comes together to make this really great city.

Have you picked up any hobbies during quarantine?
I kind of rediscovered drawing and sketching. I've been doing a lot of pencil sketching, a little bit of watercolor painting, and just trying to get my mind off of everything and just de-stress.

What's an item on your bucket list?
Mostly traveling... I think my next stop is England. I have some family friends who actually are from there, and it would be a dream to just go stay with them and explore. I think not having a language barrier is kind of awesome when you're traveling somewhere so far away.

What made you intern at the Wex?
So I am a journalism student, and we are required to have an internship before we graduate. I was so overwhelmed applying to different internships every summer but in the spring during quarantine, I was looking at more positions available for the school year, and I saw that the Wex has internship positions. I actually had met Melissa Starker (Creative Content & PR Manager at the Wex) through my work with The Lantern student newspaper at OSU; I had to interview her and some others in the communications department for a couple different projects. It just felt like it was a natural transition for me to work under her. And we get along great!

Do you have a favorite photo that you've ever taken?
This picture (above) from my trip to Paris early last year.

About the author

Makayla Davis, returning for her second year as Public and University Programs Intern, is a fourth-year Ohio State undergraduate student from Lorain, Ohio. She studies Landscape Architecture and holds a minor in African-American and African Studies. She is involved on campus as an ambassador for the Knowlton School of Architecture, the president of the school’s service organization, SERVitecture, and she is a Land Grant Opportunity Scholarship recipient. Makayla is incredibly passionate about placefinding and has studied abroad in London, Rome, and Peru during her academic experience. In her spare time, she finds passion in the art of film photography and dancing with friends.