Meklit Haile

I was born and raised in Ethiopia but I have never realized the effects of poverty to this extent in my entire life. My internship experience at the YWCA (Young Women Christian Association) of Ethiopia was phenomenal. This internship was special to me for three reasons. First, through my internship experiences at this Christian based organization, I practiced my spiritual sentiments by providing support to women who were economically and socially unstable. Second, I was able to share my expertise and know how that I gained through Berea College in my country. Last but not least I had the chance to obtain hands-on experiences in the field that I am interested in working with in the future: social entrepreneurship.  Even though the time frame of my internship was one month, my role at the YWCA was very crucial. Before starting my internship, I was conscious or concerned about how my interaction should be with HIV/AIDS positive people. I wanted to prepare myself mentally before approaching them so that I would not hurt their feelings in any way. After completing my internship, I feel very satisfied and fulfilled with the experiences I have encountered and the challenges I have overcome.

Jessica Johnson

My internship was completed at Lanham Christian School in Lanham, Maryland. I worked with a second grade class and taught math, as well as other subjects for the month.  I was able to get a lot of hands on experience and I had the opportunity to teach at least two subjects every day.  Before my internship, I had never taught an entire class by myself, so the experience was a little scary but overall it was a pleasant one.  By the end of the month I was comfortable in front of the class as I began to learn what worked with the students and what did not.  I was excited to see some of the things I have learned at Berea applied in the classroom and work.  My internship helped me connect what I am learning at here at Berea with experiences in the classroom.  I learned a lot about myself and what it is like to go into a classroom and teach everyday (for a month).

Ben Trute

DEEM (Dept. of Environmental and Emergency Management.) This agency is responsible for environmental safe working conditions, stopping chemicals spills, and rescuing people from disasters, man made or natural. They also take part in regular drills for responding to any potential accident at Blue grass Army Depot that they may be required to aid in.

At DEEM I got to work on everything from legal research, Emergency Medical response training, to helping write the plans of what to do in an emergency for Agriculture and farms. I felt very privileged to be given my own office, which provided a very good distraction free work environment.

Yes, these are just SOME of the regulation I had to read through before beginning my work. Expect to spend several 8 hour days reading all the SOP’s and government regulations if you do any internship with the government. This is about just 2/3 of what I had to read just for the job training, to do my job. 34.5 hours worth! I also had to take to other classes during the fall semester on top of my normal Berea College Classes from FEMA before my internship last fall to qualify!

This was our dept. vehicles. They are kept loaded with Emergency gear and are required by government regulation to be parked facing out, for a quick exit should DEEM have to respond to an emergency. When the plane crash took place at Lexington Airport. This is the department that responded. So if you see these vehicles coming running their lights, Please make way, they may be trying to rescue someone.

Ashley Williams

Summer 2006-Internship

During the summer of 2006 I wrote as an intern for The Perry County News in Tell City, Indiana.  It was a wonderful experience during which I learned a lot about the community, journalism, and myself.  I entered the 10-week internship certain that I wanted to become a journalist after I graduated from Berea College.  Although the experience was very positive, I realized that it was not the career for me.  Had it not been for the opportunity I had during the internship, I would probably still be pursuing a career which is quite ill-suited for me.  It has saved me a lot of time and energy, and I strongly believe that I will be much happier in the long-run. Credit for these photographs goes to The Perry County News in which these photos were originally published

Short Term 2007- Internship

During Short Term of 2007 I participated in an internship at a high school in southern Indiana.  The girls in the picture are members of the dance team that I coached while teaching classes in English and Spanish.  My first internship discouraged my initial interest in a career in journalism, but this second experience has fueled my interest in secondary education of English and Spanish.  In fact, I am now  planning to pursue a master's degree in education following my graduation from Berea.

Mulbah Zowa

September 6, 2007

This summer, I had a great opportunity to earn my internship experience with the National AIDS Control Program (NACP) & John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Liberia, West Africa. It was a special privilege to return home and to serve my people and community with health care need. But this initiative is deeply rooted in my coming to Berea and my life-long passion to work someday with people living with HIV/AIDS. I stand on the shoulder of those who had worked before me. Their immense contributions has strengthen my determination to help in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Also, I will ever remain indebted to Berea College for molding and nurturing my passion and for providing this special opportunity to earn a valuable career in nursing.

 This summer, I worked (under the supervision of Mrs. Lwopu Bruce, deputy program manager of the NACP) with the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital.  I provided healthcare services and education for HIV/AIDS patients and their families. I also participated in the official launching of the nation-wide Antenatal Clinic (ANC) Sentinel Survey 2006 report.
Although the experience was rewarding, it was also heart-breaking to return to work everyday and find out that the patient whom you treated the day before died after you left. Furthermore, it was very scary to work in an HIV hospital that lacks adequate supply of gloves. The hospital is faced with a serious problem in that it does not have enough gloves to carry on patients’ care. As a result of the shortage, nurses have no option but to recycle/reuse glove. Certainly, this kind of poor medical practice has the tendency to carry serious high risk of contaminating healthy population including the staff themselves and visitors of the hospital. It was very frustrating working with a healthcare system that can not afford the basic standard precaution and safety for its clients.

Zackary Kocher

After entering the tiny red brick house among the towering buildings, it was clear to me that I had stumbled upon a different world. This was the nonprofit world of AIDS Volunteers, Inc. (AVOL) in Lexington, Kentucky. I spent the summer in a foreign land of business people, grant applications, and a diverse community but there were times my resources with Entrepreneurship for the Public Good from the prior summer proved to be extremely helpful. Before creating the electronic newsletter (e-newsletter) for AVOL, I was able to look at my feasibility plan for steps to follow such as; conducting research on the targeted audience. I recognized that the e-newsletter was an opportunity for AVOL to increase productivity and it also allowed me to introduce a different level of creativity and innovation that I had acquired during the EPG program and my Berea College education. What was shared among all the leaders and followers at AVOL was the involvement with the diverse community. AVOL is located in eastern Kentucky but serves a community of different religions, sexual orientations, races, and lifestyles in Appalachia. AVOL has a shared public good of helping those infected and affected with HIV/AIDS. This public good goes past those living with HIV/AIDS and portrays this disease as an epidemic that affects everyone revealing it’s true identity as a social responsibility. This experience allowed me to gain experience from accounting and administration to public relations and marketing. I wanted AVOL to be a rewarding internship experience and I got exactly what I hoped for and more.

Gonzalo Garcia

I am Gonzalo Garcia from Uruguay and did a summer internship in Merrill Lynch, Lexington KY with my schoolmate and friend Yordan Georgiev from Bulgaria. We worked for approximately two months and it was my first business internship. We were responsible for several administrative and operational tasks as well as marketing and research activities. Several of the activities involved working with annuities and mutual funds for clients. We had several other research activities for different financial advisors analyzing the stock market. I also shadowed my mentor, prospecting clients and followed up with meetings, while having a direct interaction with the customer. Overall, it was a useful experience to get to know the market and apply several concepts learned in class. We also became familiar with the Merrill Lynch computer system and their research methods.

Jeta Rudi

This past summer was my first summer in the United States and of course I wanted to spend it in the best possible way. I decided to do an internship and I found out about “The Scholar Ship,” a Company with branches all around the globe.  I got accepted to work at the office in Baltimore, and so at the end of spring term I moved to Maryland to live with an American host family there, and work for one of the most interesting programs I’ve ever known about. “The Scholar Ship” is a semester-long study abroad program, held on a ship which goes around the globe stopping in a lot of countries in four different continents.  While on the ship, the students take classes and are engaged in extra-curricular activities, whereas while on ports they take part in academic-oriented excursions. My work in the Baltimore office was to contact the applicants and inform them on the documentation they needed to submit along with their application forms. I also worked with a computer database called the Enrollment Management Technology and was in charge of daily updating several spreadsheets. The internship has helped me improve my communication skills as well as computer skills. I have also learned a lot about the Company itself, how both academics and business are incorporated in a single program, etc. In addition, I have lived with an American family which has helped me learn more about the American culture, and I have also visited museums and taken part in a lot of festivals and cultural activities. It has been an enjoyable summer, I have made new friends and learned new things, and I’m already thinking where my next internship will be!

Rebekah Connor

This summer I interned with Karen Larson at the Pocahontas County Family Resource Network in Marlinton, West Virginia. During my internship I help Mrs. Larson with a Community Baby Shower, assisted her with meetings and paperwork, prepared for a back to school bash and went to Charleston, West Virginia with her for the Heirloom Birth Certificate reception. The Heirloom Birth Certificates have designs on them, anyone born in West Virginia can purchase one and part of the proceeds go to the West Virginia Children’s Trust Fund.

Jacob Scott

Here are some photos from my summer internship.  I really enjoyed my internship, and I now realize that I would really like to pursue a career in Turf grass management.  I learned that there are a tremendous amount of jobs in Turf grass, and that this industry is constantly growing.  I would highly recommend this internship to anyone who has an interest in turf grass management.

Rose Kabera

I had the rare privilege of spending the summer of 2007 in Cape Town, South Africa. Through STAESA, I worked with ailing HIV/AIDS patients in a Hospice. Though my primary goal was to work with HIV/AIDS patients, I took the opportunity to work with other patients to gain a broader scope and more comprehensive understanding of the health care system as a whole. The areas I worked in included Trauma, OB and wound dressing. In the OB, I had the glorious yet very touching and most unforgettable opportunity of delivering a baby. To play a role in introducing a new life into this world was a very exciting experience. As a result of this, I am the first and only senior nursing major to single-handedly deliver a baby. Volunteering in South Africa broadened my understanding of healthcare in other parts of the world. It also afforded me the opportunity to thoroughly sharpen my nursing skills and knowledge with hands-on care for patients in a both large and diverse population. I thank Berea College for making all this possible.

Megan Torres

My name is Megan Torres.  During the 2007 summer I participated in an internship with the Good News Mountaineer Garage in Charleston, WV.  The Good News Mountaineer Garage (GNMG) is a non-profit organization that repairs donated vehicles and then provides them to welfare recipients so that they can attend school, look for jobs, or take advantage of career opportunities.  While with the GNMG I created a report that included information synthesized from data collected about the donors and the vehicles they donated.  I later presented my findings to the director and the GNMG’s Board of Trusties.  I also coordinated a mailing to past WV donors asking for their continuous support and any vehicles they would be willing to donate to the program.  This mailing was able to pay for itself due to monetary donations and most importantly we were able to receive much needed vehicles.  I also worked on updating the GNMG’s display materials that are used at community, promotional, and other events.  My final project was to create an Ambassador program where participants promote the organization’s mission to help people get off public assistance. 
This picture is of the GNMG staff from all of the offices across the state and the mechanics.  We were at a staff retreat.

Ruth Blyden

I spent summer 2007 doing an Audit internship with the San Jose, California office of Deloitte & Touche, one of the Big Four accounting firms in the world. I interned with about a group of 35 other college students who had come from various colleges in California. The internship lasted about 8 weeks from June to August. During this period I had the opportunity to join about 200 other interns in Scottsdale, Arizona for a three-day internship conference. In preparation for audit engagements, we were in training for about three weeks, and we talked about various things such as independence requirements for auditors, and the role of the auditor in providing reasonable assurance to the financial statements of our clients.
I had the chance of being the intern staff on two audit engagements; one client was in the telecommunications industry and the other was in the semiconductor industry. I did audit work on several financial statement line items, such as accounts receivable, inventory and accounts payable. I also participated in an inventory cycle count (the auditor has to physically count the assets that the client claims to have) for one of the clients who was a manufacturing company, this required me being out at the manufacturing plant at 5am, but I got to go home early that day. An intern and a first year staff is expected to be willing to do all other tasks for the engagement team, so I had to run errands back and forth between the office and the client’s location, and I also had to send faxes and make photocopies.  The internship was not only about work, Deloitte has a balance between work and entertainment. I had the chance of going to bowling events, parties, outings, a San Francisco Giants baseball game, and I volunteered on Independence Day- which was celebrated with a barbecue for the interns.
I work at the Internship Office at the college, and I encourage students to start researching companies and job opportunities before graduation, at least by their junior year. I found this internship experience invaluable and it has also given me a sense of direction of the career that I want to establish for myself. Most of the research for this internship was done by me with the help of my advisor, so don’t wait till someone tells you that an internship is available- do the research and it will pay off.