BGSU celebrates National Internship Day

Undergraduate, graduate students perform in-person and remote internships, co-ops

Today, July 30, is National Internship Day. Internships and co-ops are vital to gain experience in the workplace and in a student's chosen field of study.

Bowling Green State University has resources such as the Career Center for students to be immersed in experiential learning, which provides different ways for students to be more actively engaged in learning by practicing their academic discipline, rather than just studying it.

The BGSU Career Center team strives to engage, educate and empower students by providing high-quality services in career development, planning and preparation, experiential learning and job attainment.

During this time, the Career Center offers limited in-person appointments, employer engagement and recruitment initiatives. The Career Center also offers phone and video appointments and virtual employer engagement and recruitment initiatives. To schedule an appointment or view a list of opportunities with the Career Center, students should log into their Handshake account via MyBGSU.

"Internships provide a great opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience," said Danielle Dimoff, director of the Career Center. "Students are able to apply their knowledge from the classroom to an internship position, while increasing their skills and marketability. These positions also help students to network with professionals, gain professional feedback and figure out what they like -- or don’t like -- as they consider future career paths.

"We encourage students to pursue multiple internships, co-ops, practicums and other experiential learning opportunities throughout their time at Bowling Green State University to help set them up for success in their post-graduation plans."

BGSU has many students, both undergraduate and graduate, participating in internships and co-ops all around the country. Some are working in-person while following guidelines to be safe in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic, while others are working remotely from the safety of their homes.

Do you have an internship this summer? Tell us about it on our BGSU Instagram story.

Here is a sampling of some of the internships and co-ops BGSU students are working this summer:

Divinity Price

Year: Senior

Major: Aviation Technology and Operations

Program: College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering

Company/Location: Envoy Air at Toledo Express Airport in Swanton, Ohio

Position type: In-person 

Describe your internship experience: Working for Envoy Air at Toledo Express Airport as a customer service agent has taught me several life and career lessons. I have grasped a better understanding of the airline industry and what it entails for a successful airline to complete day-to-day operations in flight, ground and customer service. It has also given me a better understanding between the relationship and responsibility pilots, flight attendants and ground personal hold to the safety and triumph of an airline. I have learned the necessities of organization, time management, teamwork and how these are all vital to achieving success. This co-op has given me the chance to see the inside of the airline industry, and it has reinforced my growing passion to fly. From a passenger perspective, you don’t understand fully the complexity of the operation as well as what the company does to establish a culture of safety, respect and service until you see it firsthand. Through the privilege of flight benefits, this co-op has enabled me to travel to different pilot conferences such as the FAPA Future Pilot Forum in Dallas-Fort Worth and Sisters of the Skies 2nd Annual Scholarship Gala in San Francisco. This job has truly impacted my understanding, passion and drive as a pilot and the career path I desire to pursue.

Queen Peters-Thornton

Year: Senior

Major: Engineering Technology

Program: College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering

Company/Location: Trimble Inc. in Dayton

Position type: In-person

Describe your internship experience: Being in this internship and working as a product tester and material handler was very helpful. It was an eye-opening experience that gave me insight to what I want to do with the rest of my life. Being able to work with heavy machines and create products so that people can have an easier work style was a lot of fun. I learned about the business aspect of things and how certain policies should be in place to make sure things go accordingly in the workplace. My co-workers were very supportive and helpful toward all the things I did, both inside and outside of work. I definitely would work here again.

Hunter Rollinger

Year: Sophomore

Major: Mechatronics Engineering Technology

Program: College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering

Company/Location: Grote Enterprises in Cincinnati

Position type:

Describe your internship experience: My co-op experience working with Revit and sleeve placement at Grote Enterprises the past couple months has been my favorite job experience that I have undertaken. I’ve had quite a few part-time jobs in the past, and none of them amount to the experience that I’ve had so far. My work environment is very relaxed, but at the same time keeps a pretty good pace. For a first co-op, it has been an amazing experience. My project that I’m working on is definitely near the edge of my area of knowledge, but it’s forced me to learn new things and different ways of thinking that, previously, I likely would not have even considered. My experience has definitely opened my eyes to various new ways of coding and has taught me a massive amount about the industry and workplace.

Yazan Sahawneh

Year: Senior

Major: Architecture and Environmental Design

Program: School of the Built Environment in the College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering

Company/Location: John Poe Architects in Miamisburg, Ohio

Position type: In-person

Describe your internship experience: My internship experience at John Poe Architects was exceptional. The opportunity allowed me to utilize the knowledge learned throughout my academic career and build new skills through exposure to real-world projects. Working alongside licensed architects and project managers, I learned to understand the inner dynamics of a firm and how interpersonal communication skills are key to any professional relationship. Our primary projects consist mainly of designing and upgrading government facilities. The industry knowledge I gained from working on real-world projects has allowed me to harmonize the theory of my trade with the processes of creating the built environment around us.

Marharita-Sophia Tavpash

Year: Starting grad school fall 2020

Major: Financial Economics

Program: Graduate College and College of Business

Company/Location: Catawba Island Club in Port Clinton, Ohio

Position type: In-person

Describe your internship experience: I am a marketing intern at Catawba Island Club (CIC). I am in the process of structuring and bringing awareness to the tennis program and other athletic activities at CIC. This internship provided me with opportunity to work with different platforms such as Formstack, Mailchimp and Squarespace to bring attention and reach out to the members of the club about events. Some of the most important skills for this job are planning in advance, clear organization and great communication skills. All three of those things are essential to succeed in the projects that I am participating in.

Marta Bettinelli

Year: Senior

Major/Minor: Criminal Justice major; Psychology minor

Program: College of Health and Human Services

Company/Location: Police Integrity Research Group at Bowling Green State University

Position type: Research Assistant, remote

Describe your internship experience: The Police Integrity Research Group is a longitudinal study of police crime for the public good that relies on news articles and court records to locate and track individual criminal cases where sworn law enforcement officers are arrested for one or more crimes. So far, I have been in charge of different projects, involving data entry and analysis, summarizing of information, research paper writing and video files importing.

Hayden Chase Kuzma

Year: Senior

Major: Sales and Services Marketing

Program: College of Business

Company/Location: Amazon Web Services in Seattle

Position type: Remote from home in Buffalo, N.Y.

Describe your internship experience:

My experience at Amazon Web Services so far can be summed up using the Amazon Leadership Principles. Here are three that I believe are most relevant in describing my time here:

1. Learn and be curious.

So far this summer, I was able to achieve my Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification from Amazon Web Services. I love that my internship rewards interns for wanting to learn and be curious about cloud computing. I always find it fascinating when I can discover a new program, service or software that AWS offers that I previously was unaware of. Studying each morning became an enjoyable experience for me this summer built off the foundation of my natural curiosity about our industry.

2. Hire and develop the best.

This internship has aligned me with some of the brightest students that universities have to offer. Having the chance to work alongside students with a passion for cloud computing has brought on so many great conversations and learning moments for me and others. Each day, I am grateful for the chance to represent Bowling Green State University among schools such as Harvard, Cornell and Dartmouth, etc.

3. Deliver results.

The projects I have completed thus far truly do contribute to the success of AWS. Whether it was building an entry-level analysis of priority-level customer accounts or engaging with customer prospects to gather data for targeted sales and marketing activities, I was able to apply both my knowledge learned from BGSU as well as from my current and past internships to deliver business-critical results.

Max Frost

Year: Graduate student

Major: Master of Public Administration with a specialization in Environmental Management and Sustainability

Program: Graduate College and College of Arts and Sciences

Company/Location: Lake Erie Waterkeeper in Toledo

Position type: Remote

Describe your internship experience: The belief that “everything is connected” is what led me to an amazing opportunity at Lake Erie Waterkeeper as an activism intern. Sandy Bihn of Lake Erie Waterkeeper and I have been working hard to raise public awareness for water quality issues related to concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and manure applications. As an intern, my job is to gather content for a new, manure-water awareness website as well as to advocate for sustainable, manure management to local elected officials. I am confident that we can overcome the threats posed to the quality of our ground and surface waters if everyone takes the time to educate themselves, as well as their families, friends and representatives.

Hayley Rinearson

Year: Senior

Major: Environmental Policy and Analysis with a specialization in Sustainable Management

Program: Office of Admissions 

Company/Location: Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, National Park Service, Put-In-Bay, Ohio 

Position type: In-person

Describe your internship experience: As an intern at Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, I perform many tasks. The major task I have is developing and conducting educational interpretative programs. The programs’ topics can vary because the park is a historic site, but has many environmental elements to it because it’s located on Lake Erie. I also rove the park grounds, work in the visitor center and greet and engage with visitors on the monument’s plaza. Through this internship, I have expanded my knowledge of the National Park Service and how it works from within. I’ve had a great experience!

Ethan Nagy

Year: Senior

Major/Minor: Media Production and Studies Recording Technologies

Program: School of Media and Communication in the College of Arts and Sciences

Company/Location: St. John XXIII Catholic Church in Perrysburg, Ohio

Position type: In-person

Describe your internship experience: I have helped start a weekly livestream that I help run and have now even made intros and outros for. I am continuing to make promotional videos for the parish; for example, a Father’s Day video and a recruitment video. The amount of work has continued to grow as my position is completely new, which I knew going into the internship. I have also developed a strong rapport my direct supervisor.