2019 Summer Experience Showcase
Sep 27, 2019
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Rindge students shared highlights of their summer jobs and internships at the 2019 Summer Experience Showcase on Friday, September 27. Students prepared posters with information about their employers, responsibilities, and key takeaways from their experiences. Most were on hand to share their stories in person and answer questions from students, faculty and staff who attended the Showcase. Jessica Harpell ’20 talked about her summer with Atlantis Medical Fellowship in Athens, Greece, where she developed a deeper interest in hematology. AnnMargaret DiSciscio ’20 loved her work as a wildlife rehabilitator in Windham, NH, lamenting the lack of funding for careers in the field. Shigenobu Taki ’20 interned at the Roatan Institute of Marine Sciences in Honduras, and became fascinated with the similarities between coral reefs and forests as habitats for complex ecosystems. |
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Students presented thoughtful summaries of the “intentional” and “unintentional” learning they gained over the summer. They developed professional skills required to work effectively with managers, customers, researchers, children, families, clients, patients, animals and more. At the same time, they learned critical soft skills, like “to appreciate my health and capabilities,” “to be polite, brief and attentive,” “to make clients feel validated,” and “to be approachable when talking to people.”
The Summer Experience Showcase is an important link connecting first-year students with the experiential learning that returning students have acquired beyond campus. Presenters offered tips on finding internships that relate to students’ interests. Their strategies included FPU faculty and staff referrals, online searches through Google, LinkedIn and Indeed, prior volunteer work, industry professional organizations and even high school staff or faculty contacts.
“It was wonderful to see the return on students’ investment in higher education through summer internships and work experiences that add value to the local community and beyond! Experiential education is the bedrock of our President’s vision for our students’ career development. I think each student demonstrated today just how impactful and important these kinds of experiences actually are,” said Pierre V.C. Morton, Executive Director of Career Development.