PennWest students gain hands-on experience during summer internships

Internships combine knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application in a professional setting. This summer, dozens of PennWest students are out in the community gaining hands-on, real-world experience related to their fields of study and preparing for successful careers.

Gabriel Bonal

Class Standing: Senior
Major: Electrical engineering technology
Campus: California
Internship Site: Premier Automation - Monroeville, Pennsylvania
Responsibilities: Designing and implementing programs for programmable logic controllers, assisting engineers with job quotes, and traveling to job sites for field installations.
What's Next: Giving back to the community and pursuing an engineering position in southwestern Pennsylvania.

"I have gained professional skills, industry experience, and practical knowledge for my field of engineering," Bonal said. "It has given me valuable insight into the career that I am working towards with my education. I will be able to return to my studies after my internship is complete with renewed motivation."

Emily Campbell

Class Standing: Junior
Major: Political science with a minor in data analytics
Campus: Edinboro
Internship Site: Institute for Women's Health - Washington, D.C.
Responsibilities: Conducting research on current events and health issues and guidelines, providing research briefs and updates on new issues and policies, and creating briefs on various topics for senior staff.
What's Next: Continuing to work for effective policy that promotes women's health.

"My internship has allowed for me to see how different groups work together in the political sphere," Campbell said. "We spend countless hours studying and memorizing the definitions and functions of these groups in class. To see the work they do, and how they function together, makes it much more real. This experience has also allowed for me to more fully understand the differences, on the ground level, amongst many of the nations we learn about in class. This insight will allow for me to better understand how foreign policy, such as aid, can truly impact these countries. As for my professional development, this experience has already taught me about the value of learning about the people you are trying to support. It has also allowed me to see up close how professionals work to achieve their goals, in and out of the government."

Danny Daniel

Class Standing: Senior
Major: Manufacturing
Campus: California
Internship Site: DMI Companies - Charleroi, Pennsylvania
Responsibilities: Working as an automation engineering intern conducting data collection on a press die machine that will contribute to efficiency of the production line.
What's Next: Focusing on classwork and enjoying a wonderful season with the Vulcan soccer team.

"This internship reinforces a lot of the concepts of mechatronics that I have learned, for example, the use of PLCs to control production lines and the working of electrical equipment to produce products," Daniel said. "Working with the automation department, I am getting firsthand experience with the workflow of an engineer."

Gemma DeSanzo

Class Standing: Senior
Major: Health sciences / pre-medical
Campus: Edinboro
Internship Site: UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh
Responsibilities: Working in the Rangos Research Center under the supervision of Dr. Anthony Kline, who examines traumatic brain injuries and their effects on learned behaviors and memory, mainly focusing on rehabilitation.
What's Next: Attend medical school and treat patients in emergency medicine.

"This internship will not only expand my knowledge about medicine, but also help guide me as I try to determine if I want to become a doctor, researcher, or both," DeSanzo said.

Nadia Faraj

Class Standing: Junior
Major: Arabic language and culture
Campus: Global Online
Internship Site: 95th Civil Affairs Language and Culture Center - Fort Liberty, North Carolina
Responsibilities: Teaching Arabic culture and language, including grammar and reading, and providing tutoring services to military students as they prepare for their oral proficiency interview.
What's Next: Pursuing a career in teaching Arabic language and culture.

"I think the internship is very important because any student will be able to apply everything they learned in the past and use it in a real-life situation that will help them gain more experience in the workplace," Faraj said.

Madison Hannah

Class Standing: Senior
Major: Health sciences / pre-chiropractic
Campus: Edinboro
Internship Site: Reynoldsville Chiropractic Life Center, LLC - Reynoldsville, Pennsylvania
Responsibilities: Patient services and observation of chiropractic techniques.
What's Next: Attending Palmer College of Chiropractic in Iowa to earn a Doctor of Chiropractic.

"My internship is complementing my coursework by allowing me to build a bridge between the world of academia and the real world, specifically for the chiropractic profession," Hannah said.

Jayme Heffern

Class Standing: Senior
Major: Fisheries and wildlife biology with a minor in business
Campus: California
Internship Site: Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center - Penn Hills, Pennsylvania
Responsibilities: Caring for wild animals, maintaining enclosures, ensuring proper diets and introducing enrichment.
What's Next: Continuing in wildlife rehabilitation.

"My internship allows me to learn more specific concepts that I have previously learned throughout my courses," Heffern said. "I believe this internship will help me pursue a career because I have previous experience."

Allison Hoover

Class Standing: Senior
Major: Biology / pre-pharmacy
Campus: California
Internship Site: Patton Pharmacy - Patton, Pennsylvania
Responsibilities: Assisting with prescription refills and customer service.
What's Next: Pursuing a pharmacy career.

"The internship gives me an inside perspective of what my future career will look like," Hoover said. "I think I will find my future career quite relaxing and satisfying to do."

Adam Leonard

Class Standing: Senior
Major: Digital media technology
Campus: California
Internship Site: Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh
Responsibilities: Redesigning the open-source digital ADA web guide (user research, wireframing, illustrations, front-end web development), ADA remediation of internal web properties and a print project.
What's Next: Obtaining a career in the digital technology field while continuing his education and eventually teaching.

"The internship is slightly different in culture than the classroom, but my coursework has made the transition smooth and a great confidence builder," Leonard said. "This experience will help in refining my career path and goals."

Martina Peluso

Class Standing: Senior
Major: Psychology
Campus: California
Internship Site: UPMC McKeesport - McKeesport, Pennsylvania
Responsibilities: Co-facilitating recovery groups and observing individual and family sessions.
What's Next: Pursuing a master's degree in clinical mental health and earning a doctorate.

"My internship reinforces concepts I learned in my coursework, especially while in individual sessions because of the types of counseling used and the topics covered in the sessions," Peluso said. "Internships give you real-life, hands-on experience that helps you prepare for your career. It also helps you get comfortable in a setting or demographic you may work in."

Brandon Pierce

Class Standing: Senior
Major: Computer science
Campus: Clarion
Internship Site: Erie Insurance - Erie, Pennsylvania
Responsibilities: Working as a software engineer intern as part of the Core Integration Team in the Enterprise Engineering Department. Pierce is working on Application Programming Interfaces that enable communication and data transfers between departments.
What's Next: Pursuing an IT apprenticeship with Erie Insurance and obtaining a role as a professional software engineer.

"This is my second internship I have done during my time here at school, and I can't stress enough how important internships are and how much they have benefited my growth and learning as a student," Pierce said. "I learned so much and grew as both a professional and a student."

Matt Puhr

Class Standing: Graduate student
Major: Sport management
Campus: Global Online
Internship Site: Fayetteville Woodpeckers - Fayetteville, North Carolina
Responsibilities: Working with the Assistant General Manager and the Social Media Coordinator on developing and executing digital, social, and traditional marketing strategies.
What's Next: Pursuing a career in the sport management field.

"My internship is reinforcing the concepts I've learned in my coursework by applying sport management principles," Puhr said. "I've been able to assume leadership roles and help with marketing and sponsorship ideas. This has been an incredible opportunity."

Brady Shore

Class Standing: Senior
Major: Psychology
Campus: California
Internship Site: Voices for Independence - Washington, Pennsylvania
Responsibilities: Helping students with disabilities learn about vocational skills and opportunities and performing job coaching.
What's Next: Obtaining a master's degree and a Ph.D. to become a clinical psychologist and researcher.

"Taking classes like clinical skills and abnormal psychology taught me all about the DSM-5, mental diagnoses, and different psychological skills. However, learning about these things in class is very different from the real world," Shore said. "My internship has allowed me to be able to see all of these psychological concepts and utilize the skills I learned and practiced with real people."

Nicolete Smiley

Class Standing: Senior
Major: English / communication
Campus: Global Online
Internship Site: A Novel Idea Publishing, LLC - Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania
Responsibilities: Reading manuscripts, copy editing and finalizing books for publishing.
What's Next: Pursuing a career in writing or editing.

"This internship is reinforcing and complementing everything I have learned throughout my time at PennWest," Smiley said. "I think completing an internship is very important because it gives you on the job experience, it is stricter that schooling and it will give you many skills outside of school."

Reese Walter

Reese Walter prepares food for wolves at Wolf Sanctuary of PA

Class Standing: Senior
Major: Fisheries and wildlife biology
Campus: California
Internship Site: Wolf Sanctuary of PA - Lititz, Pennsylvania
Responsibilities: Prepping food for wolves, maintaining habitats, observing wolf behaviors, posting to social media and providing tours.
What's Next: Pursuing a career with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

"This internship is a great way for me to see how some of the wildlife management skills that I have learned are put into practice in a real-world setting," Walter said. "I am currently doing a behavioral study on Wolf-Human interactions, so I've been getting to take a closer look at just how these animals behave, while utilizing the observational skills, data collecting skills and analytical skills I have learned in the classroom."

Cara Wheeler

Class Standing: Senior
Major: Exercise science
Campus: Global Online
Internship Site: PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates - Pittsburgh
Responsibilities: Guest services, sales and hospitality.
What's Next: Pursuing a career with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"Completing this internship is a huge deal, and I believe any internship should be taken seriously, as you never know where it can take you," Wheeler said. "Making the connections is what really matters, but showing up and showing you love what you're doing is even better!"

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