The Royal Experience Summer Internship Program

This summer, I was given the opportunity to do research in a laboratory at Columbia University Medical Center in the Department of Neonatology. Over the past 5 weeks, I have been learning a variety of skills including how to operate different laboratory apparatus and how to analyze data. These skills are necessary to master in order to conduct an individual research paper throughout the next few weeks of summer.

From this experience, I hope to gain more of a sense of direction in terms of a career path. I, like many college students, do not know exactly what it is that I want to do after graduation. I have always loved science and know that I want to do something relating to human biology, I am just not sure what. I am hoping that working in a lab will open yet another door for me and let me experience the more behind the scenes work of medicine. With the end goal of publishing my own paper, pursuing research will help me to become a better writer, which is a skill that would help me anywhere in life, but especially if I decide to apply to medical school or graduate school in the future. Overall, this research experience is a great way for me to experience just one of the things that I can do after graduation.

Tara O’Hagan
Biology

While I hope to gain knowledge about techniques and skills in glycobiology, I have realized that I am learning what it means to ask the right questions. The renowned scientist I work under has shown me that it is far more important to be able to understand and think about the right questions than it is to perform a procedure. An attitude of complex problem solving is a mentality that I hope to gain by the end of the summer.

The Royal Experience has given me the opportunity to be exposed to the lifestyle and work ethic of an industrial scientist. While I have only been here for a few weeks, it is clear that this facility is dedicated to research and that their focus is producing cutting-edge science. Daily tasks of writing manuscripts, reading literature, and preparing samples makes clear the expectations that this research group has set for itself. This environment is the type I hope to find myself in during the coming years. Moreover, it has given me a clearer picture of what I should be looking for in graduate school in this coming fall. I am confident that this experience will provide me with the necessary skills to excel as a highly qualified candidate in a doctoral program. Most importantly, this involvement has affirmed my love for research.

Nolan McLaughlin
Neuroscience

This summer I am doing an internship at the Scranton Counseling Center. The experience so far has been astonishing. I have learned a lot in the past three weeks. I got much real-life exposure to many psychological disorders, which I have only learned about in my previous psychology courses. So far, I have seen patients suffering from some serious illness like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and eating disorders.

By spending some time in the psychiatrist’s office, I have attained more knowledge about the treatment process for different disorders. I also gained a better idea of the process of diagnosis by observing a therapist conduct an intake. For the first two weeks, I observed the nature of group counseling and took notes. Since last week, I am planning and running my own group sessions under the supervision of the program staff.

I am hoping to gain more patient contact exposure in the next two months, so that I can recognize their symptoms and behaviors without difficulty. I want to learn more about diagnosis to help me make the treatment plans. This internship will help me to find the direction toward my future career. Sometimes I am undecided between becoming a mental health counselor or becoming a psychologist. This position will help me learn real meaning of counseling and how is it different from what a psychologist would do.

Mili Patel
Neuroscience Major, Psychology Minor

This summer I have the privilege of interning at Antler Ridge Wildlife Sanctuary, a nonprofit rehabilitation center for injured, orphaned, and sick wildlife. My main roles at the sanctuary include working with licensed rehabilitators to establish diets, assess medical needs, administer treatment, and work to release the wildlife that is brought to us. My leadership qualities and responsibility for both the animals and other volunteers has helped me grow as a person, as well as an aspiring veterinarian. From this internship I hope to gain the invaluable knowledge of handling and caring for wildlife. I believe there are some things you can’t learn in a classroom, but rather from experience. For instance, raccoons are in the small group of animals that can eat grapes, and to feed a baby skunk, you have to use its tail to cover its spray glands so you don’t have to take a tomato bath. I have been fortunate enough to learn how to administer subcutaneous fluids to fawns and how to treat hypoglycemia and hypothermia. These valuable experiences are equipping me with the skills and knowledge to become a knowledgeable and trustworthy vet. I hope to continue learning new treatments and dietary needs and work with an even more diverse group of animals. Working here has encouraged me to branch out into new fields of veterinary medicine, apart from small animal, and continue to work with exotic and wildlife animals.

Michelle D’Alessandro
Biology

My marketing internship at Our Lady of the Fields Camp and Retreat Center in Brighton, Michigan is going very well. Because this camp and retreat center is new and still developing, I hope to learn how to market and manage a business from the ground up. Through my marketing tasks, I hope to learn how to create a brand for a growing business by reaching out to people, especially through social media. Most businesses nowadays are maximizing social media, so I hope to learn the best ways to utilize these platforms to reach a wider audience. Through my management tasks, I hope to learn how to communicate with others, delegate tasks to others, and work together with my coworkers. I also hope to learn more about networking and developing relationships with people.

This internship also gives me experience on working for a nonprofit organization, and I hope to gain insight on how a business like this operates. Because I do not know exactly what career I want in the business field, this internship is very beneficial to me as a business administration major, which is broad and gives me the ability to take various routes in my career path. With this internship, I can gain experience in marketing and management and decide which I like more or if I like both. I have learned a lot so far in my internship, and I am excited to continue to gain more experience.

Maria Hickey
Business Administration

These first few weeks have flown by, and they have been full of fun and interesting discoveries! I have been working as a curatorial intern in the Everhart Museum, under the wing of Francesca Saldan, the museum’s curator. I have been specifically working on inventory, which entails taking down information and accession numbers of items in the museum’s storage rooms and entering their location into an online database. Being a student of art history, being able to actually see and hold items from all over the world, paintings from the last few centuries and artifacts from times forgotten is very valuable to me. It turns out the Everhart has a very large collection of Oceanic art- that is, art from the pacific islands, which I had never seen up close. The craftsmanship behind these pieces is certainly not disappointing. I am also a student of studio art, and the collection of fine art on paper and paintings on canvas is very satisfying to see as well. The Everhart has things from medieval illuminations to modern expressionist art. I have also found ancient pieces of glass and sculpture from Greece and Rome! It is certainly true that this humble little museum in Scranton, PA has its fair share of hidden little gems. I am having a great time already, and I look forward to unearthing other secrets as I continue to work through the rooms of storage here at the Everhart.

Until next time,
Jordan Oakey
Liberal Studies with concentrations in Studio Art, Art History, and Education Theory

This summer, I have an internship with the Rafferty Lab from the University of California, Riverside (UCR). As a large public university in California, UCR is committed to research, diversity and inclusion. I am assisting one of Dr. Nicole Rafferty’s PhD. students, Elijah Hall, on projects involving pollination ecology. We are residing at the White Mountain Research Center (WMRC) in the White Mountains, CA to conduct field research for the summer. Each day, I assist Elijah on data collection, entry and analysis, while also working on an independent project.

Moving to California for the summer has been an amazing opportunity. I am eager to learn more data collection techniques, study plant/ pollinator relationships and connect with other graduate students/ faculty this summer. I am confident that this internship will help me become a stronger candidate for graduate school and increase my research skill set. I am looking forward to diving deeper into this incredible opportunity and gaining more hands-on research experience this summer.

Elizabeth Kenny
Biology

I came into my internship at Nichols Law Offices not knowing if I wanted to be a lawyer. Furthermore, I was apprehensive about working in an office for the first time. Everyone looked so serious and business like. I wasn’t used to that level of formality. But, then my new boss, Craig Nichols, introduced me to the office. He then told me that there were only three rules that I had to follow: Do the right thing, get that “thing” done, and don’t be a jerk while doing it. I knew as soon as he said those things that I had come to the right place. Those three rules not only have helped me in the internship, but also will stay with me going forward.

The people at Nichols Law Offices have welcomed me with open arms, and I have learned more than I could ever have imagined. As a firm that deals primarily with immigration, I feel that I am also making a difference too. We get to help people come to the greatest country in the world. My internship has been a great experience so far, and I’m so excited to see where it takes me.

Colin Sommers
History/Political Science

Every day that I pack and prepare for my internship, I feel more excited for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! For the next several weeks, I will have the most amazing experience of interning at Island Dolphin Care (IDC), in Key Largo, Florida, a not-for-profit organization. They specialize in dolphin assisted therapy for children and adults with disabilities as well as for veterans of the United States military. I am so grateful to be able to complete this therapy internship with the aid of the Royal Experience Program.

I am thrilled to apply the skills and knowledge I have acquired in my occupational therapy classes, as well as obtain new skills as I work side by side with the therapists at IDC. As anyone would be, I am also looking forward to understanding unique aspect of this therapy, the inclusion of dolphins. Dolphins are some of the smartest animals on the planet, and I am lucky to be able to see how they interact with and help the clients of IDC.

I hope to use this incredible internship to not only pursue my future career in occupational therapy, but to grow as a person. At The University of Scranton, a Jesuit institution, I have been introduced to the value of “cura personalis,” or the care for the entire person. I believe that this internship will allow me to share this value with the staff and clients with whom I will interact and apply it to my future practice as an occupational therapist. I am truly excited to begin my Royal Experience internship and represent The University of Scranton in Key Largo this summer!

Claire Jarvis
Occupational Therapy

The beginning of my summer has been busy with receiving valuable working experience through my curatorial internship at the Everhart Museum.  I have already gained various skills by working here the past three weeks; however, I am looking forward to learning even more as my internship progresses and I continue to complete more projects.  This experience has helped me understand the role of a curator in not just handling the museum’s exhibitions, but also administering important responsibilities such as budgeting and marketing.  My internship allows me to handle the museum’s artifacts and directly contribute to their conservation and repatriation to indigenous peoples under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The research I have conducted on various sacred Native American artifacts has helped me understand a museum’s legal procedures while also gaining knowledge about native tribes and their culture.  As I continue to work at the Everhart, I hope to be involved in the process of curating an exhibit that relates back to the research I have conducted so far.  The knowledge I have gained will impact my future career as a curator because I have an appreciation for the extensive research that goes into conserving and displaying artifacts in an educational, yet respectful way.

Abbey Donaldson
History