Guest Blog by Michelle Amponsah ’26
Note: The MCS NYC Summer Internship Program is generously funded by the Harvard Club of New York Foundation.
I loved my experience as a summer 2025 Bloomberg News intern in New York City. I found out about the internship through LinkedIn and Bloomberg’s website in fall 2024. I’ve been dreaming about being a journalist for a national outlet for several years now. I’ve spent countless hours filing reports for our student publication, The Harvard Crimson, and interned at a local Boston newsroom last summer. But reporting for Bloomberg was an entirely differently ballgame; this summer gave me a real look at what my future could like as a professional journalist at a national outlet.
I was assigned to the Health team this summer. Health reporting was outside of my comfort zone, but the support of my team lead, newsroom editors, and my kind and encouraging fellow reporters were key to my success. I wrote dozens of articles about important, newsy topics in healthcare – RFK Jr.’s overhaul of federal vaccine policy, Trump’s vein condition, the new drug review process at the FDA, COVID-19 rates, obesity drugs, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, emerging therapies and landmark scientific studies, and more. It was a process of constant learning; I became skilled in asking questions and being curious, becoming familiar with the previously unfamiliar, and distilling complex information into clean, engaging copy on breaking news deadlines. I interviewed professors, medical doctors, ayahuasceros, experts, startup founders, and parents. I collaborated across teams. And I gained confidence in my ability to network horizontally and vertically; to adapt; and to be quick on my feet, all essential skills for a budding reporter.
My favorite project from the summer was a feature-length article I worked with another Health reporter on. We looke into the phenomenon of parents increasingly seeking early access to vaccinations for their children because of RFK Jr.’s unpredictable vaccine policies. Sourcing required some social media savvy like posting on forums like Reddit and finding people on TikTok, Instagram, and X. I talked to a concerned mother and several doctors across the country for the story. I greatly enjoyed working on a longer form piece that showed the real-life effects of policies at HHS on American families.
Further, my summer experience advanced my career in meaningful ways. I made numerous professional connections, not only with other student journalists in my cohort, but also through getting coffees with new hires at Bloomberg News and veteran reporters, editors, and newsroom leaders. The internship also converted into a full-time reporting role for next year. Therefore, I’m so grateful for the donor contribution and support that made this experience and job possible. It’s been integral to allowing me to realize my professional dreams.
