A Summer in the Public Defender’s Office

The Public Defender’s Office deals with a variety of criminal law cases that take place within Lackawanna County. Although I have already spent time in the office working with social services, I have really enjoyed my new assignment with the attorneys in the office. I hope that my time with the attorneys will allow me to better understand the role they play within the criminal justice system and get a more detailed look at what happens throughout their days. I have quickly learned that there is never a typical day within the office. With that being said, I am confident that following this internship I will leave with a vast amount of knowledge regarding hearings, petitions, files, and different stages of the criminal court process. In addition to the procedural side, I anticipate that I will be able to interact with clients and learn more about their lives. I have already spent some time with attorneys while they are interviewing clients and reading through Pre-Sentence Investigation reports that review their life history in great detail.  I chose to pursue a second internship in the office so that I would be more informed when making a career decision. I have been considering pursuing a law degree since developing an interest in the criminal justice system and am hoping that a more in depth look will be able to steer me in the right direction.

Delia Gavin
Counseling & Human Services

Research and Increasing SEO

From this internship I would like to learn how to properly improve the SEO (search engine optimization) for the website I am creating. This website is a city guide for local restaurants, bars, and events in the Washington, DC area. I research the area and the most popular neighborhoods in order to provide the best content for future viewers. I have already learned the importance of increasing the SEO value in order to have the website be successful organically. I would like to learn the ins and outs of running a website and how to get a website to appear on the first page of any search engine, specifically Google. There seem to be many steps to achieving this goal, especially when starting from complete scratch. I hope that once this internship is completed, I will leave with the knowledge of how to efficiently rank a website on Google, the behind the scenes actions of running a website, and how to accurately track and analyze the data. Once this is achieved, I will have the knowledge to apply to other jobs or opportunities in my future in marketing.

Elizabeth Chostowski
Marketing

Learning in the Field

Thanks to the Royal Experience Program, I have spent the last few weeks learning and growing as an intern at Lackawanna Pro Bono. The inner workings of the justice system, especially as it relates to its application to those of disadvantaged backgrounds, has been the centerpiece of experience and exposure thus far. While facts and figures can be committed to memory around these topics, such book knowledge never can be compared to getting up close and personal with the daily realities faced by these members of our community.

This summer experience will enable me to test my coursework-based assumptions, as well as develop my critical thinking and communication skills. I also hope to continue acquiring the ability to elicit accurate and complete information from clients and gain practical knowledge about the legal system. I am confident that the Lackawanna Pro Bono experience will inform my future practice of law, allowing me to cater my client approach to their individual circumstances with compassion.

Paula Awuku

Political Science

First Month of My Internship

It feels like time has flown by so fast during my first month here in Singapore, but during this small period of time I was able to learn so much about the culture here, in addition to learning more about computer programming. In my internship, I have been learning how the language Python is used in web development, as well as gaining experience in dealing with clients directly, which I have never done before; I believe it is a perfect fit for me, as it corresponds heavily to my major and gives me a great opportunity to explore southeast Asia while learning more in the field of computer science. This experience will heavily impact my career path as well, as having the international experience has become increasingly important to employers, and it will also benefit me in my goal to go to one of the top graduate schools in the country to obtain my MBA. For the next two months, I hope to learn more about interacting with other companies as well as further develop my programming skills, while also learning more about the culture.

Nicholas Constantinou
Computer Engineering

Which door should I open?

One of the main reasons I wanted to apply for internships was to begin to figure out what job I wanted. Lucky enough, forensic chemistry has a broad range of job options. There’s only one problem with that- which opportunity should I pursue? I love crime scene investigations, but there isn’t just one entity that does the investigation. I need to narrow down what position I really want to delve into. There are so many doors to open, but I need to figure out which one to open and possess a future in. This internship can help me dive into the roles of a coroner and medical examiner. Today was just my first day, and I began to learn how many people are involved in a death. At a scene, fireman, policeman, coroners, and many more entities come. Once the body is retrieved from the scene, a medical examiner performs autopsies if necessary. Today, I went with a deputy coroner to the hospital to pronounce a man dead. The coroner must take pictures, declare if an autopsy is necessary, and retrieve the admitted blood (blood the hospital takes from the body when the patients are admitted). So many people come together to solve a crime scene investigation. In summary, I want to learn all of the career paths and personnel involved in a crime investigation to figure out which career path I want to pursue. The possibilities are fortunately endless!

Brittany Ruch
Forensic Chemistry

Physical Therapy: A Perpetual Evolution

My internship thus far has given me initial exposure to the complex, developing world of physical therapy. By the conclusion of this summer, I hope to gain a complete understanding of the necessary requirements to pursue a career in the field as well as the daily responsibilities of a physical therapist. My supervisor and her staff have been an integral part in helping me learn the basics, which has led them to give me the duty of conducting a single-patient case study through monitoring the patient’s exercise program and tracking their rehabilitation progress. Furthermore, my interest has been sparked in a faction of physical therapy that I had never thought of. While proper biomechanics are heavily stressed at the sports and orthopedic clinic where I am interning, one of the therapists here had stressed the importance of the neuromuscular aspect of rehabilitation on multiple occasions. This inspired me to research neurologic physical therapy and has resulted in a shift in my career aspirations. The fulfillment that I envision to inherit from practicing neurologic physical therapy outweighs that of working with athletes. The idea of restoring function to the life of someone with Parkinson’s disease, vertigo, or any other type of neurodegenerative brain disorder would provide the reward that I seek in my future career. Thus, I plan to shadow a neurologic physical therapist while I am taking a summer course this July and am currently in the application process of being a student volunteer at the Brain Injury Rehab Program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.

Everett Minchew
Exercise Science

An Internship with the Biopsychology Lab

An internship with the Biopsychology lab here at The University of Scranton is an amazing opportunity to develop and advance lab techniques. I have been a part of this lab for over two years now, and I have grown so much already. This internship will allow me to understand what it would be like to have research as a full time job and hopefully, in the future, a career. I will be able to learn things that I would not have the opportunity to learn during the school semester. I am excited to expand my knowledge and interests in my field, and hopefully I will be able to apply these to future studies done by the Biopsychology Summer Internship. In the first three weeks of my internship experience I have learned many useful skills including cutting, mounting, and staining brains. I am excited to see how all the things I have learned and practiced will come together in the near future. These skills also perfectly align with the requirements of future internship applications which would allow me to continue to grow toward my ultimate career goals. My career path would require me to receive a PhD, and having these internship experiences is a vital point in beginning that process. I am excited to see what is in my near and distant future due to this internship.

Kerry Buckhaults
Psychology/Neuroscience

Interning Where the Pros Go

As an intern at Barwis Methods in Port St. Lucie, Florida I have already learned more about physical therapy and personal training in my three weeks than I ever could have imagined. Barwis Methods is a professional training center that focuses on holistic human performance with four locations across the nation. Athletes and PT patients travel to these facilities from all over to experience training and care you can get nowhere else.

Through my time at Barwis Methods I hope to continue learning from my coworkers and gaining hands on experience by coaching athletes through their training regimen. Not only am I seeing the different ways physical therapy can be provided, but also the strength and conditioning side that is needed for every athlete to fulfill their potential and the science behind it all. This will help with my career path because I hope to be working in a gym or facility like Barwis Methods; I want to work to help athletes and patients alike become the best they can possibly be.

There is a quote on the wall in the gym that states “If the people we work with today mean more to us than ourselves, we will be good at our jobs”. I hope to learn everything I can at Barwis Methods to live out this quote wherever my career and education takes me.

Julia Giaimo
Exercise Science

Using My Internship as a Stepping Stone to My Future

It’s already been three weeks into my internship, and I have learned a plethora of interesting and insightful information about the sales field and what it takes to be successful. My first week was an intro into the life of an account manager at Presidio and what their daily routines are. At 8:00am on Monday mornings, there’s a meeting to discuss each account manager’s sales forecast for the upcoming week/month. This is the most important part of the week because it sets the scene for the rest of the days to come. This helped me understand that although you’re given a lot of autonomy as a sales person, you’re responsible for getting the numbers you forecast in the Monday meeting. I noticed that the meetings were laid back and the account managers were enjoying each other’s company. This is reassuring because I want to work in an industry that expects a lot but isn’t always micromanaging its workers.

After the Monday meeting, the week is set and the sales team has to begin working for their clients. I was lucky enough to sit in on various client meetings and experience what it’s like to own your own account. Although it can be stressful at times, working with people is always something I have wanted to do with my career. Hopefully this internship opportunity will equip me with the necessary tools to become a good sales person in the future. I want this internship to give me valuable experience in the sales field so I know whether or not I want to pursue a career in this field.

John McDowell
Business Administration

Letting My “Fringe Flag Fly”

I am interning for the Scranton Fringe Festival, a multi-day performing arts festival that takes place in downtown Scranton.  Not only is this festival great for the arts, but it also benefits many local businesses that serve as venues for the performances.  This is an ideal internship for me because I am a strategic communication major with a track in advertising and minors in theater and general business.

Through this internship I hope to assist with and further learn how to successfully develop short term and long term events. I have already worked on two events for the Fringe.  One event was a marketing workshop for the artists involved with the festival.  I had the opportunity to plan and execute a live stream for the artists from out of town.  In addition to working at the workshop, I had the chance to sit in on the event and listen to the guest speaker.

A project I am helping with is assisting the Fringe to get more sponsors.  So, I have been meeting with many business owners to discuss buying ads in the festival’s program.  These skills in communication and negotiation will be crucial to my career, and I am grateful to be able to start fine tuning them now.

I have a huge love for theater, and I try to support it in any capacity that I can, so I cannot wait to continue doing so with the Fringe this summer!

Allison Northrop
Strategic Communication

My Experience with the American Lung Association

This summer I am interning at the American Lung Association as a Special Events intern.

From this experience, I hope to learn more about non-profit organizations and how they impact other organizations and people in the community. I work with the Development Team, and our focus is getting more individuals aware and educated on lung health, and the direct impact lung health has on our friends, family, and the people in our community through fundraising and educational events. As a Human Resources major, I am also hoping to learn more about the differences and similarities in HR departments and practices between for-profit organizations and non-profit organizations.

I think that this experience will positively impact my career path because I am exposed to the incredible mission that the Lung Association has and how they work with the community to create a better place to live. I enjoy working at a place that has a purpose and that does meaningful work. The workplace culture at the ALA is such a positive and exciting place to work, and I think this will directly impact my career path as I look for this kind of culture in the future jobs I have.

Caitlin Tulaney
Human Resources

What do I want to be when I grow up?

For years I have wanted to be a computer engineer, but what does that entail? I’ve learned it encompasses many different fields and that technology reaches all aspects of our lives. My internship is at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the governing body of highways, airports and any other travel for the state of Massachusetts. Going into this, I had ideas of what I would be doing and what I wanted to get out of this. I wanted to gain a better understanding of how the technology industry is used within the department to communicate with others and the essential role that technology plays in the transportation industry. Technology such as computers, Autonomous vehicles, and network shared drives are a huge part of the industry. Being able to share information, receive information and update the public about what is going on in their state is essential. This will help my career path because I am truly unsure of what I want to do with my degree, so to see technology being utilized in many different fields will help me determine where I can use my skills to help improve the technology people use in different industries or help me determine if I want to create new technology. This internship is the beginning of determining what I want to do with my life.

Alexander Pinarreta

Computer Engineering

Onward & Upward

What I hope to learn from this amazing experience is what I need to do as a female individual to be prepared to the best of my ability for my future in law enforcement. In a male dominated field I want to represent females in the most encouraging way possible. I would like to not only meet people from within the USMS (US Marshals Service), but I hope to network with several different agencies and to create for myself a sturdy platform to build off upon graduation. Having contact with people who work for the federal government is a great way to learn little details that the general public may not know, such as agencies I should apply to, things I should avoid, and most importantly how I should prepare myself efficiently and effectively. I anticipate that this experience will also show me what to expect when I enter the work force. Things may not always be what you expect, and I need to learn to take the good with the bad; I expect to encounter both ends of the spectrum while interning for the USMS. I hope to gain information that will help expand on my preexisting knowledge in the criminal justice area that will help me moving forward, not only in my future career, but during my time still here at The University of Scranton.

Below are some pictures!

Allison Santoro
Psychology

Starting My Summer

As I start my summer internship of conducting neuroscience research in Dr. Marc Seid's laboratory at the university, I am both excited and anxious for this experience. During the course of the summer, I hope to learn how to properly run my own experiments and collect data in order to publish a paper on my research. While that may seem like a few simple things, there is a lot of learning that goes into each one of my goals. To truly learn how to run my own experiments requires a great amount of trial and error and can take a large amount of time. For each experiment I set up, I will be collecting data that may or may not be useful in the long run.  I hope to learn how to collect data in such a way that will best allow for it to be analyzed by myself or any other students and faculty I might collaborate with.

By achieving these goals I have set forward, I hope to gain valuable knowledge and experience for a future career in research. By working in a lab setting this summer, I will have a chance to experience the work environment I plan to move on to after my undergraduate education. I hope that this experience will teach me necessary skills and techniques that will help me continue on the career path I have set forward.

Sarah Ricupero
Neuroscience/Biomathematics

Summer in the Fast Lane

This summer, I am interning at Speedway Motorsports Incorporated in Concord, North Carolina. Speedway Motorsports, Inc. is a leading marketer, promoter and sponsor of motorsports activities in the United States. The Company, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates eight first-class racing facilities in significant markets across the country.

After starting the summer by helping the staff execute two large NASCAR event weekends at Charlotte Motor Speedway, I am ready to learn how the pieces come together to form the puzzle that is a NASCAR race weekend.

NASCAR is much more than just forty stock cars racing around a speedway for an afternoon. NASCAR is a sport that welcomes many Fortune 500 companies to partner with race teams and race tracks to increase brand awareness, drive sales, and open the doors for business-to-business opportunities. During my internship this summer, I hope to learn how a company like SMI draws new partners to the sport and how they retain their clients with post-event sponsorship fulfillment reports.

My passion is motorsports and it is my aspiration to work in the motorsports industry after college. As a college student, I strive to do all that I can to gain an understanding of the sport and the different facets that exist in it. My internship at SMI will help me to learn about another facet in the sport and will connect me with professionals in the sport that I hope to work in one day.

NASCAR Monster Energy Series Victory Lane at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Coca-Cola 600 Victory Lane at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Mark Miller
Marketing/Business Administration