At HU, internships are meaningful experiences that help students bridge academics and career planning. Students gather a solid foundation in the classroom and step confidently into the real world through well-designed work experiences. HU helps students find the right internships so they can graduate with the skills needed to enter – and conquer -- demanding fields. Here, HU students and supervisors share their thoughts on the power of a fulfilling internship.
Intern: Nicholas Natale
Major: Computer and Information Sciences, Software Engineering and Systems Analysis concentration
Internship: The Vanguard Group
Nicholas Natale, a junior majoring in Software Engineering and Systems analysis, is taking advantage of an opportunity that he could not refuse: an internship with Vanguard, a prestigious investment management company in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Looking towards his future, Nicholas believed there was no better way to get a head start in the IT industry then working with a prestigious organization that relies heavily on their own software. Harrisburg University helped Nicholas attain his position in their IT College to Corporate Internship Program. He hopes this helps his career get off to the right start.
Intern: Alexandria Keener
Major:Computer and Information Sciences, New Media Design concentration
Internship: My Girlfriend's Wardrobe
Alexandria Keener knew she wanted to get a job doing web design, and wanted to own her own business. So, during her second year at Harrisburg University, she started doing both by creating her own company, and making it her internship. The business she started is an online consignment store called My Girlfriend's Wardrobe and offers brand new and second hand designer items, at affordable prices. Customers can purchase items directly on the website, and also get the chance to consign their own items. HU has given Alexandria the knowledge for the business aspect through e-business classes, and having a great, supportive faculty.
Intern: Josh Smith
Major:Computer and Information Sciences, Computer and Information Security concentration
Internship: PSECU
As a sophomore majoring in Computer Security, Josh Smith is taking advantage of all the Harrisburg University has to offer. Needing a job to help get through the summer and coming semesters, Harrisburg University helped him get a job at PSECU as an intern on their Support Desk in the IT department. At PSECU, he helps fix any of the issues employees of the credit union may come across. While this internship has helped him in his ambitions towards becoming a Network and Systems Administrator, it also showed him how a successful company runs their IT department. This experience has helped in the classroom as Dr. Joseph Cannon will often ask and use his experience to help relate the current material to the class.
Intern: Sheldon Anthony Stephens
Major:Management & e-Business
Internship: Government services, Pennsylvania School Employees' Retirement System
Sheldon Anthony Stephens had a feeling he would like dealing with financial information, and an internship with the Pennsylvania School Employees' Retirement System – or PSERS, as it's known – helped to confirm his instincts. "This internship has helped me realized how much I like dealing with finances," he says. Working in retirement communication and counseling, Sheldon learned the Pennsylvania retirement code and about new legislation regarding retirement regulation. Now that his internship has confirmed his career direction, Sheldon plans to earn an MBA and hopes to run his own company as well as work in a corporate setting.
Intern:Lance Cardene
Major:Integrative Sciences
Internship: Chemistry, Chemical Solutions Ltd.
Lance Cardene is making the most of his Harrisburg University education. He established a chemical inventory for HU, pitched in to clean up a Harrisburg city street, and even helped excavate and clean a Miocene dolphin skull. For his internship at Chemical Solutions Ltd., an independent testing laboratory specializing in trace level elemental analysis, Lance developed a catalog of stock reference standards for the laboratory and established a cleaning regimen – an essential task in an atmosphere where avoiding contamination is critical to the integrity of test results. “His work supported that of our analysts and technicians and allowed them to perform their functions more efficiently,” said Francine Walker, technical director of Chemical Solutions Ltd. and Lance’s supervisor.
Intern:Amy Clementz
Major:Biotechnology
Junior Project:Safe agricultural practices, Joshua Group
Amy Clementz wanted a meaningful junior project, one with real-world impact. Her interests include sustainability and gardening, and she found the perfect fit in Joshua Group, an inner-city youth enrichment organization with, as the Harrisburg Patriot-News put it, “an agricultural collective that grows food as well as character in the center of Harrisburg.” Amy’s idea: Help Joshua Farm prepare for the Good Agricultural Practices audit known as GAP. When her research revealed that GAP is better suited to large corporate farms and “not one-acre urban farms with youth employees and lots of volunteers,” Amy developed a small-farm food safety plan, says Joshua Farm manager Kirsten Reinford. “Amy did lots of research about GAPs and facilitated soil and water testing, and put together a notebook with all the necessary forms, such as volunteer sign-in, hand washing directions, and paper trails for record keeping.”
Intern:Joseph Elliott
Major: Network & Information Security
Internship:Information systems, Orrstown Bank Operations Center
At the IT helpdesk, every job was different for Joseph Elliott. “I was exposed to many different issues, and very seldom did we get the same ones each day,” Joseph says. “It was nice interacting with all the different people who work for Orrstown Bank.” Joseph’s internship exposed him to new software and an array of networking equipment, including servers, tape drives, and all the other technology that keeps banks running smoothly. “The tape drives hold all the information to be backed up, which is very important in a banking environment,” Joseph notes. He hopes the internship leads to a job at the bank and, more broadly, to a fulfilling career in IT. “By doing the internship there, I have an excellent reference as well as a job opportunity,” he says.
Intern:Adam Cole
Major:Biotechnology 
Internship: Biotechnology, Appalachian Brewing Company
Adam Cole would like to own a brewery and distillery someday – an intimate place producing small-batch beer and distilled spirits. In a tight-knit industry, he got his first “in” through a Harrisburg University internship at Appalachian Brewing Company. “This internship is giving me a chance to see the production side and everyday life in a brewery,” he says. He performs regular screening to verify sanitary process controls, and his work toward a low-cost test for dissolved oxygen levels could save equipment costs for the venerable microbrewery – founded in 1997 – and increase its distribution footprint by bringing down dissolved oxygen levels in its beer. Adam is considering graduate studies in brewing and distilling, perhaps at a distinguished global school such as Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University. “My internship with Appalachian Brewing Company gave me experience that would be difficult to obtain otherwise, because brewing is difficult to break into without prior industry association,” he says.
Intern:Derek Ivey
Major:Computer and Information Sciences, Computer and Information Security concentration
Internship:Information technology, Versatile Systems, Inc.
When Versatile Systems moved offices, Derek Ivey’s planning made for smooth sailing. “We powered off all of the servers, storage arrays, and network hardware at the old office on a Friday,” he says, “and I got most of the servers back online by Sunday evening.” Derek chose to intern at Versatile Systems for more than real-world experience. The technology integrator works with some large regional clients, and he saw room for advancement. He documented critical internal infrastructure in preparation for the move, provided technical support to employees, and made changes to the network -- DNS, firewall, VPN connections, and network switches. As he plans a career in network security, Derek has already gotten a head start, with a job at Versatile that will continue after graduation.
Intern:Amanda Robbins
Junior and Senior Project:Offshore Wind, Wild Resource Conservation Program, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Even as green energy moves from curiosity to mainstream, the impact of some industry segments is unknown. That includes offshore wind power, and Amanda Robbins helped contribute to greater understanding of this emerging energy source. Since 1982, the Wild Resource Conservation Program has helped preserve Pennsylvania’s world-famous biodiversity by conducting and supporting research, conservation, and education projects. This is the office that helped develop county inventories of rare species and special habitats, identify species most at risk from climate change, and reintroduce river otters and osprey to Pennsylvania. Now, the program turns its attention to the “potentially significant impacts” of Great Lakes offshore wind power on migratory species, says Executive Director Greg Czarnecki. “We have very little background knowledge on this issue.” Amanda searched existing literature for relevant research and produced a report on the technology, pending projects, and potential environmental impacts. “She has no background in the subject area,” Czarnecki notes, “but she’s been working very hard to produce a quality report.”
Intern: Braedon Cupp
Major: Forensics
Internship: Forensics, Dauphin County Coroner’s Office
Braedon Cupp didn’t approach his internship as “a necessary part of his schooling that had to be endured,” says Dauphin County Chief Deputy Coroner Lisa Potteiger. “Rather, he was here passionately.” He had already crossed paths with the Coroner’s office through class projects and by observing autopsies, and his work with the office continued in the autopsy lab after the internship ended. “This is a physically and mentally demanding profession, and an intern can either be of great help or a hindrance as we investigate death,” Lisa says. “Braedon was consistently an asset to have at our sides.” He was always ready to help with office investigations, autopsies, and administrative work – Braedon calls it “becoming more in tune with the professional aspect of working in an office that deals in forensics” – and was particularly interested in correlating field findings with anatomical and physiological autopsy results in determining cause and manner of death. Braedon says he plans on earning his master’s and doctorate’s degrees and someday teaching or landing a government post with “one of the alphabets,” such as the FBI or NCIS.
Intern: Daniel Warseck
Major: Geospatial Technology
Internship: GIS, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Career opportunities in GIS are endless, and HU’s Daniel Warseck was prepared for some real-world experience. Daniel took skills learned at HU to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, where he worked hands-on with a variety of GIS projects – from developing data and mapping in support of online interactive maps, to updating GIS data sets, to querying data sets in support of needed analyses. “Daniel provided a much-needed support role in all projects and was integral to their timely completion,” says his supervisor, Director of GIS Michael Bialousz. And beyond simply finishing the tasks assigned, Daniel “provided a great deal of insight and his own ideas to the projects.” As an intern, Daniel was prepared to learn. As a colleague, he was ready for the experience. “He brought with him a good and established skill set that allowed me to place him on projects with minimal training time,” Bialousz says.
Interns: Ashley Green and Amanda Robbins
Majors: Integrative Sciences: Biology Concentration
Internships: Forensics education, Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts
Science centers need people skilled at communicating complex principles in terms that visitors can understand. An affinity for handling Madagascar cockroaches can come in handy, too. When HU students Ashley Green and Amanda Robbins interned at downtown Harrisburg’s Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, each developed a presentation for Harsco Science Center’s exhibit on the insects that can provide valuable forensics information at crime scenes. Amanda built her presentation around the classic bug-parts game of Cootie. Ashley shared first-hand lessons from an earlier coroner’s-office internship – and had no qualms about handling those cockroaches. Both worked directly with center visitors. “The more students have the opportunity through college-course requirements to have these field experiences, the better prepared they’ll be to be functional and highly sought after in the workplace,” says Lori Lauver, Whitaker’s director of education and enthusiastic supervisor of Ashley and Amanda. Ashley credits the experience with sharpening her communication skills. “As adults in college, we are taught to think so critically, to analyze and overanalyze things,” she says. “Kids ask very simple questions and usually require simple answers, which is not always so easy to do.”
HU internships don’t just help students build experience for different jobs in the future. Sometimes, they become the jobs that our students take after graduation. Here, two HU alumni who turned internships into careers share their stories.