Need A Summer Internship? This South Brunswick Student Can Help

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — Around two years ago, South Brunswick student Mehar Johal was looking for internships and volunteering opportunities for the summer.

He faced a mammoth task as no website or tool allowed him to easily search for programs related to his area of interests.

Further complicating the task was the fact that a lot of the programs were buried in college websites, spreadsheets and databases locked behind expensive paywalls.

“So, I began to compile a list of opportunities for myself, and over time the list grew. Soon I was able to help some friends,” said Johal.

Taking this a step further, Johal created a website with all the information he had on internships and volunteer opportunities in the South Brunswick area.

HS Navigator allows users to choose and specify what they are looking for in their programs. These options include start and end dates, location, specific colleges, or even majors and fields of study that the program corresponds with.

The website today includes summer programs from around the country.

Johal’s website is also a great tool for school counselors who find themselves stretched guiding hundreds of students.

The American School Counselor Association recommends a counselor to student ratio of 250 to one. But in New Jersey alone the ratio stands at 348 to one, according to data from ACSA.

“I showed it to my counselor who was happy because it helped him,” said Johal.

“School counselors have a lot of budget and time constraints. My website not only helps students but benefits counselors too.”

Initially, Johal created the tool for the South Brunswick school community. But he soon found himself presenting the site to families and counselors in Roselle, New Jersey.

In February last year, Johal was invited to present his work at Roselle by NJ Councilwoman Denise Wilkerson.

“I've received emails from counselors afterward. They said how much they appreciate my website and how much it could help district students. That was motivation enough for me to keep working on the site to expand it and include opportunities students from other districts could use,” said Johal.

For the past two years, Johal has been emailing counselors from across the country, asking them for information on summer opportunities for high school students.

Using information provided by the counselors, Johal began listing them on his website.

Responsibilities increased as the website began to include other districts. Johal then assembled a team of students from all grades to help him.

The team works throughout the year to update and maintain the website.

There’s so much work to be done with the website, that Johal is now offering a summer internship program at HS navigator.

The teen says his inspiration to help other students comes from his religion.

“I wear a turban and value my Sikh religion a lot. One of the tenets of Sikhism is community service, or ‘Seva.’ That inspired me to do this project,” he said.

A high school senior, Johal is now preparing to move to college this fall.

“I recently visited Georgia Tech and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. I’m yet to decide between the two,” he said.

Although he will be away, his team will continue to work on the website.

“I’m trying to make sure that the website keeps going, even when I’m off to college,” he said.

Apart from working on his website, Johal is an avid percussionist who loves baking and cooking.

“I’ve been in New Jersey all my life, but for some reason, I love Southern Comfort food,” he said.

“The biscuits, fried chicken and stuff — it tastes so awesome.”

Although studying computer science will keep him busy the next few years, the teen said he won’t lose sight of what’s important to him in life - community service.

“I don’t want to study computer science to make big money or a name for myself. I want to have a positive societal impact,” he said.

“My website, the HS Navigator, is going to be like a motivating factor for me. I’ll keep that in mind when making my decisions in the future.”

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