Jericho senior selected for internship program

Agastya Mittal, a senior at Jericho High School

Jericho High School student Agastya Mittal recently attended the Bank of America Student Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C., where approximately 300 students from across the country come together to learn the fundamentals of leadership, civic responsibility and bipartisanship. The Summit is the premier event for the Bank of America Student Leaders Program, an eight-week paid internship that runs throughout the summer. Approximately 300 community-minded high school students in their third and fourth years are selected each year, and the internship connects them with opportunities for employment, skills development and service.

As an intern at Bank of America, Agastya was assigned a role at a local nonprofit to understand the needs of the local community and find ways to mobilize help, while learning job skills and earning competitive wages. Agastya spent eight weeks over the summer working at EAC Network, a social services nonprofit, as a Public Relations & Marketing intern.

Operating on Long Island and in the five boroughs of New York City, EAC Network provides strength, assistance and care to more than 54,000 people in need through more than 100 programs. Through its programs that address issues such as food security, substance abuse treatment and special education, EAC has positively impacted the lives of tens of thousands of people since its founding in 1969. Programs include Meals on Wheels on Long Island, supervised Child Visitation Services for non-custodial parents, and support for child victims of sexual exploitation through its Safe Harbor Program.

During the week of the summit, Agastya learned from a plethora of high-profile speakers, U.S. Representatives, business leaders, and activists, including Hollywood actor Chris Evans. Agastya also participated in workshops designed to put what he learned in the seminars into practice, working with his fellow student leaders to find solutions to major issues in American politics and society. Students were taken on day trips to historic sites in Washington, D.C., including the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the National Archives. They also had the opportunity to meet their representatives and senators in Congress.

Students in the program came from dozens of U.S. states, cultural backgrounds, and walks of life. While the students’ diverse backgrounds meant that they had different ways of approaching the issues being discussed at the Summit, it was up to all students to work together to come up with bipartisan solutions to these problems. For example, in the “Mock Congress” activity, a series of bills were drafted and voted on by “committees” of students that required participants to negotiate and compromise with colleagues to get the bills passed.

Agastya, a senior at Jericho High School, is passionate about community service, with an interest in topics such as sustainability, history, international affairs, and politics. He founded a non-profit organization called “Youth for Sustainable Future” to spread the message of sustainability among the youth. He is an author, blogger, debater, and a gold medalist at the International History Olympiad in Rome in 2023. He won the Championship Trophy at the International History Bowl in Princeton in 2022. He recently published his first book – Divided: 8 Partitions that Changed the World, on geopolitics and history.