Scarlet Service Stories: Amaya Solar
Amaya Solar, Smart Growth America
Boston native, Amaya Solar, recognized the disparities of city living early on.
“You’ve got downtown and the skyscrapers and the people working in business. And it’s also a college town with Cambridge and Harvard right there. You see all the prosperousness of Boston,” said the rising Rutgers-Camden junior, 20, “But if you spend time in the real city, there is a lot of poverty and inequities. I realized I was one of the more privileged kids at my high school. Most of my friends are people affected by poverty or from low-income families.”
That understanding fuels Solar’s post-college plans to help reshape city landscapes in a way that improves access to transportation, education and housing instead of separating the “haves” from the “have-nots”. After earning a spot in this year’s Scarlet Service program in Washington, D.C. and landing an internship with Smart Growth America, the political science and urban studies student is one step closer toward her career goal of working in urban planning. The nonprofit formulates recommendations to create sustainable communities with diverse living and transportation options.
“They come in and teach people in towns and cities that need support how to make their communities thrive,” said Solar, who added that the internship has refocused her career objectives. “Before I was thinking about how we can give more opportunities to people. Now it’s what can we physically change about an area to make it function better?”
In her role, Solar supported research on housing, urban development, and zoning reform efforts, creating briefing materials and memos and working closely with the organization’s housing and development teams. She also wrote a blog post on housing and tariffs, tracked policy changes that might affect Smart Growth America's efforts, and supported presentations and events by organizing content and brainstorming speakers and projects.
Earning a spot in the Scarlet Service program in our nation’s capital comes with a $3,800 stipend, free housing and assistance in securing an internship that augments their studies. The resources Scarlet Service provides to help interns network and ferret out opportunities is invaluable, Solar said.
“Getting an internship in D.C. is hard. Last summer I had my own spreadsheet going and applied to a bunch of internships and didn’t get anything,” she said. “This summer, I had the program coordinator looking at my resume and cover letter, sending new internship applications weekly or daily and connecting me with alumni of the program to assist. They help you as much as you can.”
Solar is equally excited about the opportunity to expand her network while spending the summer in the congressional apartment complex she shares with many other student interns.
“I definitely want to tap more into my peers this summer,” she said. “We have a great opportunity to connect with other interns from around the country.”
– Lisa Intrabartola