Welcome OpenSesame's Intern Class of 2014!

We're so excited to welcome our 2014 marketing interns! These seven will be assisting the marketing team and working on projects company-wide. Keep an eye on the blog—you'll start seeing posts by our interns as early as next week! 

Hannah Huston

I am currently a freshman at Scripps College in southern California majoring in Science and Management with a Biotech focus. Having grown up in Portland with a dad who is very involved in the startup community here, I was instantly attracted to the OpenSesame internship. eLearning is a continuously growing field, and I am very excited to start interning with OpenSesame and getting a more in-depth experience in such a prominent area.

At my college I am part of a group of women who are starting our school’s first ever club soccer team and through this have learned that persistence is key in attaining goals. Along with soccer I like to stay very active and enjoy running, tennis, and riding my horses. My family has a farm on the outskirts of Portland, and I spend a lot of time caring for our horses, chickens, cats, and dogs.

Anna Taylor

I grew up in Seattle, Washington and am currently going into my senior year at the University of Portland pursuing a Marketing major and Psychology minor. I spent the spring of 2014 studying in Italy and exploring some of what Southern Europe and Northern Africa had to teach me. I'm looking forward to continuing exploring and learning through my internship this summer with OpenSesame. This internship caught my attention because I was looking for an opportunity to learn about marketing in a hands-on environment that encourages personal growth and creativity.

I am the Phi Beta Lambda president at the University of Portland and am a self-taught painter. Outside of learning one of my biggest passions is traveling, exploring the world and meeting all the different people in it. I love integrating creativity in every aspect of my life and am excited to see what working at OpenSesame has in store for me.

Ernest Sliter

I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to serve as a marketing intern at OpenSesame! Last summer I worked as an affiliate marketer through the Amazon Associates program. By building small websites and crafting rich content I was able to connect customers with the products they needed. Through this internship, I hope I can improve my writing skills and become more proficient in the latest SEO strategies and techniques.

Currently, I am a student at the University of Texas at Dallas majoring in MIS with a minor in Software Engineering. As a student at UTDallas, I love participating in student organizations and clubs, particularly those relating to business and entrepreneurship. I am the recruiting officer for the MIS Club and the treasurer of the UTD College Democrats. In my spare time, I love to volunteer and write fiction.

Dana Rosen

I am a rising junior at UC Berkeley studying Cognitive Science and Education. I am very excited for this summer at OpenSesame to explore the elearning marketplace, which could be a large component of the future of education. Digital education is increasingly popular across various domains, and I am looking forward to both watching this development and playing an active role in the field.

As a student, I am passionate about cognitive development and creating optimized learning contexts, which is directly relevant to OpenSesame’s products. I stay involved in education and psychology research outside of my academics as editor-in-chief of the Undergraduate Journal of Psychology at Berkeley and a research assistant on Alan Shoenfeld’s Mathematics Assessment Project team. In my spare time I enjoy staying active and exploring the Bay Area with friends.

Noah Piwonka

I'm currently a freshman at Northwestern University majoring in economics. I'm a Portland native, and I'm incredibly excited to work in the city that I've called home for 19 years. Startups and online ventures are at the forefront of the 21st century business world, and I hope to contribute to and learn from the continued growth of OpenSesame.

In my free time, I am heavily involved in Northwestern Ski Team, Dillo Day (the largest student run music festival in the world), and Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. I also am working with a group of ten other students on creating a business/finance centered student publication, where I will be writing about film and media.

Grant Coomber

I am currently a Product Development Intern at OpenSesame. I started my Internship in November 2013 and have loved every day since. My days consist of learning to code and testing content; I even try to get as involved as I can in the customer service side of the office. OpenSesame has taught me many things, but most of all they taught me how to love my job. It's definitely the most positive, fun place I have ever worked.

Aside from OpenSesame, I am very excited to find my niche in life. I love to hike, snowboard, and do pretty much anything Oregon has to offer. Last year I hiked a 140 mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail over two and a half weeks. I have a puppy named Bentley and he loves all things Oregon as well (except cats).

Katie Barrer

Hello! My name is Katie Barrer and I am going into my junior year at the University of Oregon. I am currently studying advertising through the School of Journalism and Communications. I truly believe I am blessed to be a part of one of the best journalism schools in the country with some of the most acclaimed professors. My career goal is to be a creative director or account planner at a creative advertising agency, maybe somewhere outside of Oregon for awhile. I am a born and raised Portlandian, and am so excited to be working with OpenSesame in one of my favorite parts of the city.

Some of my favorite things to do outside of work or school is to paint, be outdoors, play guitar, attempt to cook, and go on long runs or hikes with friends and family. I credit living in the Pacific Northwest for a lot of influence on my creativity, and I hope to give a lot of that back to OpenSesame during my time this summer!

Gunnar Holwerda

I have lived in the Portland area my whole life, but decided to take off to Montana State for college. I just finished my sophomore year, majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Finance. In my free time, I like to hang out with friends, play video games, or work on other programming projects I put myself up to.

I am very excited to have the opportunity to be a development intern at OpenSesame. I hope to be able to make an impact and learn about how product development works. Also, I would like to learn a few things about starting a company, as I hope to start my own someday.

Malcolm Daigle

I have been a development intern at OpenSesame since last July, but this is my “formal” introduction. I just graduated from Jesuit High School and in the fall I will be attending the University of Washington. Currently, I plan to major in computer science or computer engineering with a minor in either math, a foreign language, or entrepreneurship, but I am keeping my mind and options open.

Outside of school and work, my favorite pastimes are hiking, biking, running, reading, and watching movies, to name a few. My favorite hiking destination is the Columbia Gorge. To satisfy my outdoor urges this summer, I will be taking a brief twelve day hiatus from work to go backpacking in New Mexico with my Boy Scout troop. When it comes to books and movies, I particularly enjoy the science-fiction and action genres.