Month: August 2016

First off I would like to say that I had the best Internship ever this summer, and it’s all thanks to The Royal Experience Internship Program! There were so many rewarding parts of my internship that it’s hard to narrow it down to one, but if I had to choose I would say the most rewarding part about interning at WHHI-TV was the opportunity’s I was given while there. I was able to do a live stand up report, guest host on their TV shows, contribute to their social media pages, and be able to stand in and help out with so many of there programs. Interning at WHHI-TV truly made me feel as though this was absolutely the career path that I wish to continue on, and I feel as though my time at The University of Scranton has prepared me greatly for my future career aspirations. The greatest challenge I found while interning at WHHI-TV was actually the amount of responsibility I was given. My first few days while at this internship I definitely was second guessing myself a lot, and didn’t want to mess up. I found it challenging to trust that I was doing the right thing, but by the end of the experience I felt so confident in myself. For example one of my first days I was at a video shoot and they had me focusing the camera, I was so nervous that I was going to mess it up and the whole video would turn out blurry, but by the end of the summer I could focus a camera quickly and with no problem! Overall I’m so happy with how my internship turned out, and I feel as though I truly gained real world experience.

Philadelphia Major Jim Kenney recently congratulated all students, including our very own Chris Louin, who completed the Mayor’s Internship Program. Check out the clip here.

The first thing I had noticed when I stepped into the Democratic National Committee was that it never sleeps. As I overheard someone say while waiting for orientation to start, “…There’s only 62 days until the convention,” and over the past four weeks, it’s been so exciting to play even a small part in getting ready for the convention and general election.

This summer, I’m working at the DNC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.  as an intern in the research department. My fellow interns and I assist the research staffers, so we have been involved in several long-term projects. Our usual duties include transcription, data entry, some archival work, and sampling every food truck that parks near the Capitol South metro stop. We have had the opportunity to attend some events as well.

I knew political research was essential for a campaign, but I did not know how in-depth the research was until I became a part of it. Whenever I saw an article or political ad, I rarely thought about how exactly that information was gathered, but now I appreciate the fact that it might have taken a researcher or team hours of sifting through obscure material to find it. Also, the DNC’s research is mostly opposition research. As an individual, I believe getting to know the opposition is just as important as being well versed in your own side when deciding for whom to vote, even if it is an easy choice. As an organization, the DNC’s goal is clearly for their party’s candidate to be elected president, and opposition research is an important part of that process.

I think that this internship will influence my career path in several ways. Political research is so important, so whether I work for a non-profit, a political consulting firm, or a campaign (or, most likely, all three at different points in my career), it will likely involve research. Besides the work itself though, the DNC is just an incredible work environment. This intern class has only been here for four weeks, but already we have gotten immersed in projects, attended events and seen major political figures speak, worked closely with our supervisors, and learned about the other departments’ work through talks given by other senior staffers. The work itself has been interesting, but in this field in particular, it is so important to make connections and learn from others’ experiences. I certainly have plenty of opportunities to do that, and I can’t wait to see what the next two months will bring.

Megan Bershefsky
International Studies

My internship involves shadowing a physical therapist and helping around the clinic. As it is an out patient clinic I will have the chance to observe a variety of injuries and demographics, from children to student athletes to the elderly. I hope to learn how the special tests and treatment modalities I learned in class are applied to different patients. By observing intake appointments I hope to learn about the complexity of certain injuries and what therapists look for when presented with a complex patient. Also, by working at the same clinic for the majority of the summer I will observe how the therapists progress patients during their rehabilitation.

This internship will help me understand not only what a physical therapist does, but what a day in their life is like. There is a lot of paperwork and time spent scheduling patients to make sure they can get to their appointments. Another thing I am learning beyond the book knowledge is how to motivate different patients. This is hugely important as it is not something that can be taught in a classroom but is vital to providing care to patients. It is also interesting to interact with a third year physical therapy student, an athletic trainer, a physical therapy assistant, and two different physical therapists. These interactions allow me to see how each different professional works to provide care, which I want to be in the future, and what I should do to get there.

Margaret Dodgson, molecular biology research assistant, checking in from the University of Scranton. As a novice researcher, I am still developing lab techniques, abilities in experimental designing, and a knowledge base for my subject material. During my research internship, I hope not only to learn more about research skills, but also learn more about myself. I am excited to be able to explore topics that interest me. This internship is more than identifying the sex and parasite load from the blood samples of birds. This internship is an amazing opportunity to develop skills that I can transfer to other research labs in my future career. The techniques I have learned, and will continue to learn, can be applied to any laboratory setting. I have also learned how to work collaboratively with others, manage time, trouble shoot, problem solve, and think creatively.

I hope to pursue a career in the medical field. I believe that research is an integral part of practicing medicine.  Research can help combat chronic and new illnesses. I particularly believe that the field of molecular biology and genetics will be a central part of the future of healthcare. Many diseases may be able to be treated with gene therapy. My research may involve birds, but the techniques in decoding the birds’ genetic makeup can be applied to a humans as well. Scientific research is tedious and challenging, but it is worth it.

My internship has only just begun and I am excited to be a part of such an amazing organization. In just a few short weeks I have learned so much about grief that I did not know before. This experience will help me begin to evaluate my career goals, as I start to see what I like or dislike about working in a grief support setting. As a facilitator for grief support groups I will provide an opportunity for families to communicate, and I will be a listener for anyone that needs someone to talk to. A death in the family can completely change someone’s life, and although there is nothing I can do to make their loved one return I hope I can make it an easier adjustment by being there for support. I hope I will learn how to appropriately approach conversations about death, because it is often a sensitive topic for many people. This summer is the first time I will take on a clinical role, and it is just the beginning of my career exploration. As a psychologist, I will communicate with people every day who are struggling to cope in their daily lives. Helping people cope with grief is just one area within the field of mental health, and it is something I could envision myself doing in the future. There are many opportunities ahead and so far I think I am on a good track to discovering the right fit for me!

Marissa DeStefano
Psychology

I hope to gain so much knowledge and experience from this internship. During my freshman year, as an uncertain biology student, I decided to take a first-year seminar that really intrigued me: Immigration Experience in the United States. We read a book, titled Enrique’s Journey, and it struck me hard. I read about his various deportations, his horrible struggles as a child simply trying to find his mother in the United States. How could we treat people, especially unaccompanied minors, in such a way? This class changed the course of my life; from it, I decided that I needed to help fix this problem and help immigrants who are in the process of removal proceedings to win their fight. When I found my internship, I was thrilled; I would get to use the Spanish I had learned over the past 15 years and get to learn more of the legal aspect and ramifications of immigration. During my internship, I hope to learn more about the Violence Against Women Act (for victims of domestic violence), U Visas (for victims of crime), and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (for unaccompanied minors) as well as the evidence needed to win these types of cases. I believe that this internship will be even more life-changing than my first-year seminar as it will be a small taste of what it will be like to be a lawyer and will give me the skills needed to become an excellent immigration lawyer and advocate for immigrants.

Kylie Mignat
International Studies

I can’t believe I’m starting my 4th week at my internship. I feel as though I’ve already learned so much about occupational therapy. I’m getting to see first-hand how what we learned in the classroom relates in real life situations. During the remaining 8 weeks I hope to learn how to better create interventions that relate to the client as an individual. I noticed that a lot of the time therapists get overwhelmed with a “rush” of clients at one time and the individualism of treatment seems to be lost. I have my own caseload and have been trying to consciously create treatments to benefit them as well as incorporate something that they enjoy doing. For example, one of my patients came in extremely weak from a recent fall and surgery. This patient in particular enjoyed sketching and painting so I decided to incorporate sketching while working on his endurance and standing balance during the session. I’ve found that the more I am able to relate to a client the more cooperative they become in a session. I think this will be an important aspect of my future career because I feel that the best health care professionals are the ones that go out of their way to make you feel like you’re the most important patient they have at that moment. As the summer progresses I hope that I can keep coming up with creative interventions as ways to help my clients and grow as a therapist.

Katie Leithauser
Occupational Therapy

So far my internship with WHHI- TV has been extremely rewarding. I have had incredible experiences and meet wonderful/ helpful people. One thing that I’ve realized while interning here is that I have the opportunity to truly learn from professionals in my field. The main goal I want to take out this internship is to learn as much as I possibly can. So far I have been asking so many questions about everything in the industry from editing, best way to perform on air, and just the everyday workings of a TV station. I feel that this internship will impact my career greatly because I am gaining so much experience. I am learning what areas of the industry I truly enjoy and want to pursue further, and what areas I don’t feel as strongly about. For example some of the jobs they have been having me doing so far are updating the all of the company’s social media pages, refreshing and maintaining the main monitor that broadcasts the shows, assisting in studio and on location shoots, helping operate the camera, and tomorrow morning I will be getting interviewed for one of the local talk shows (I will send the link to the video of it once I receive it)! Just from working here I already feel that in the future I want to pursue a career in entertainment reporting and TV hosting. I feel that WHHI- TV is the perfect place to begin my career in broadcasting, and I could not feel more honored to have the chance to work here!

Emily Darcy
Journalism/Electronic Media