91茄子

Virtual Road Trips Spotlight Interns in Various Learning Opportunities 

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.鈥擳his summer, several 91茄子 students are working internships all over the world鈥攆rom South Africa to Shelby, N.C. To give the campus community an idea of the various places students are serving, Micah Martin, director, and Shea Mattingly, associate director, from the GWU Center for Personal and Professional Development have featured them in virtual road trips. These interviews are published once a week on the Center鈥檚 page.

Martin said internships are academic experiences that help students apply and practice what they have learned. 鈥淭he internship search process requires them to develop not only their job search skills, but their networking skills, interviewing skills and have a strong resume and LinkedIn profile,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen we do this well, students have no trouble finding jobs upon graduation.鈥�

He added that many students find internships through 鈥渢alent pipelines鈥� the Center has developed over the years with companies and organizations. 鈥淎s one student leaves an internship, their faculty help scout out students to fill these spots,鈥� he explained. 鈥淯ltimately, employers decide on who they want to hire, but faculty play a key role in making sure students are equipped for these roles and a good fit for specific positions. Many of these internships lead to full-time positions upon graduation.鈥�

In celebration of (July 29), here鈥檚 a look at a few of  the students who have been featured:

• Amanda Truver鈥擶ildlife Ecological Investments, Kruger Game Reserve, South Africa. Truver hopes to pursue a career in wildlife biology, and the internship will help her stand out in the field. She is helping the Game Reserve keep track of the populations by identifying the animals and birds living there.
• Marissa DiMatteo鈥擟TS Health in Hickory, N.C. A sophomore biomed major, DiMatteo is working with the nurse practitioner. CTS Health does therapy and medication management for children. DiMatteo takes patients鈥� vitals before they see the nurse practitioner.
• Sophia Smith and Victoria Rivera鈥擟leveland Physical Therapy Associates, Shelby, N.C. In the beginning, they observed what the therapists did. In the second half of the internship, they did more hands-on, taking patients through the exercises and providing ice packs and heat packs. The internship has helped them decide what career path to take in the future. Smith is interested in become a physical therapist and will be applying to graduate school; Rivera is looking more into the field of prosthetics.

• Luke Beamer鈥擟harlotte (N.C.) Eagles, a missionary soccer ministry sharing the gospel with club and semi-pro soccer teams in the summer. Beamer, a recent graduate, is an athletic training intern. Before practice, he tapes ankles, preps injuries and gets the athletes through stretching programs.
• Louise Schmidgten鈥攚orking remotely from South Africa for Charlotte software engineering firm, Passport Labs Inc. She has learned the company鈥檚 system and worked on programming development.
• Caitie Mayo鈥擜rchitect Sports Performance and Physical Therapy in Ballentyne, N.C. She works one-on-one with athletes leading them through warmups and drills.
• Haley Searcy鈥擟ohesion Phenomics in Spindale, N.C. Searcy has learned how to use lab equipment to help isolate, sequence and analyze DNA.    

Located in the North Carolina foothills, 91茄子 is a private, Christian, liberal arts university. 91茄子 emphasizes a strong student-centered experience and rigorous academics to prepare students to become effective leaders within the global community. Ignite your future at 91茄子.edu.