Vol. 17 No. 14 - Dec. 3, 2012

Senior Jessica Scheetz traveled to New York City to pursue an internship with Parents magazine. As a communication-journalism major, Jessica researched all of her internship opportunities on the website ed2010.com, which is a networking site for those interested in the magazine industry. She acquired more than 15 interviews based off her resume with student media at Truman.

“I haven’t had any internship experience prior to this, so my learning experience with Truman media has been crucial and invaluable in my success with Parents,” admits Jessica.

During her full-time internship, Jessica’s tasks included: blogging, researching story ideas, fact-checking, interviewing celebrities, assisting with photo shoots, assembling articles for the magazine, running regular mail routes, compiling presentations for the executive editor, indexing and archiving previous issues and helping with a special “Best Books of 2012” project. During her 11-week internship, Jessica had the opportunity to assist the editor with organizing a child identity theft story, which earned Jessica a byline within the next few issues.

Cameron Jadali, a senior exercise science (pre-physical therapy) major, traveled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to work in a clinic for the non-profit organization Global Therapy Group. His duties at the Haitian clinic included: manual stimulation of muscles, application of pain-relieving electronic stimulation, providing long term exercise prescriptions, cleaning supplies, giving therapeutic massages and recording patient data.

His work experience as a certified personal trainer for two years, along with knowledge learned in exercise science courses, aided him with his work. During physical therapy observation hours in the U.S., laws prohibit non-licensed physical therapists from touching the patients, which can make observation hours somewhat repetitive. This trip to Haiti allowed Cameron to interact with patients in a way not possible in may other settings. His experience has strengthened his resolve to become a physical therapist and will help him in his future endeavors.

Junior exercise science (pre-occupational therapy) major Andrea Boerding, interned with the “Dreams to Reality” program in Cape Town, South Africa. During her six weeks, Andrea worked Monday through Friday at Sunrise Educare in the Capricorn Township. She engaged the classroom of three- and four-year-olds in activities to strengthen their motor skills while teaching simple lessons such as days of the week, colors and emotions. At the end of the day, students received a recreational hour consisting of a dance warm-up and a team building activity, such as soccer. During the afternoons, Andrea would volunteer with the surfing program and the after school pre-teen sports program. Her favorite part of the internship was getting to know the kids.

During her four-month study abroad program in Berlin, Germany, senior Amanda Shetler accepted the opportunity to intern as a member of the Cultural Studies Team. Amanda assisted with marketing and organizing the Master of Arts in International Relations and Cultural Diplomacy program. She also researched certain topics for classroom discussion, such as the use of film as cultural diplomacy. Working 40 hours per week, Amanda helped set up and run the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) Annual Academic Conference on Cultural Diplomacy, which hosted a variety of diplomats and academics who spoke on the progress made by cultural diplomacy. Monday night panel discussions, in which all interns gathered to discuss issues relating to culture and diplomacy, offered insight into the many different experiences and backgrounds of her colleagues. Ultimately, the internship served to reiterate exactly what Amanda was striving to gain from her experience abroad: an increased understanding of, and interaction with, new cultures, ideas and people.