An Experiment in Life

Know what you want to do when you graduate?
Whether you are certain, on the fence, or undecided, participating in an internship is a great way to give your future a trial run. Putting classroom knowledge into practice is essential to engaged learning. An internship will not only provide direct experience and a competitive edge after graduation, it can also ignite your academic curiosity as you continue your studies.

Furman’s internship office can help you explore options, plan strategies for finding and applying for internships, and give you access to resources including databases, professor and alumni contacts, and students who have participated in internships that shaped their college experience or future plans. Through summer internships, supported with fellowships from the Furman Advantage Program, these students learned that their opportunities are limitless, that pursuing a career they enjoy is critical, and that Furman’s liberal arts curriculum can prepare them for success in any path they choose.


	40-plus hour work weeks, two classes a week, numerous lectures, organizational meetings, office responsibilities, work outs...ten weeks have never flown by so quickly! I definitely made the right choice in coming to work for the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools. My internship combined my passion and love of education, policy and politics. I was able to attend everything from congressional budget hearings and committee hearings to education association meetings. I’ve found that there is so much that needs to be done in the wide field of public education. The wide disparities in terms of equity funding between rural and urban/suburban districts is astounding and it is heartening to know that as a nation we are doing better. More students are attending college than ever before, more students are taking advantage of the AP/Honors courses that their high schools have to offer, and schools in urban and rural areas that 5–10 years ago were low-performing are now becoming models of achievement. The icing on the cake was to hear from the education policy advisors to presidential candidates Senators McCain and Obama, sponsored by the Committee for Education Funding. Andrew Lee ’09 The National Association of Federally Impacted Schools Washington, D.C.
	By far the most rewarding aspect of this internship was performing with Yo-Yo Ma, world famous cellist; Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops and a Furman alum; and Bill Preucil, concertmaster of the Cleveland Symphony. The sold-out performance made me feel like I had made it as a professional musician. I established relationships that will open many doors for me when auditioning for orchestras and applying for jobs. Being around so many other dedicated musicians inspired me to practice and work hard to improve my playing. I would spend hours in a practice room working on one piece and completely lose track of time. Ben Grube ’09 Brevard Music Center Brevard, North Carolina
	My internship has been far more rewarding than any other summer job I could imagine. Medical school has been an ambition of mine for years; however, my undergraduate experience had somewhat deterred me from this path. Working at Columbia Heart and Moore Orthopedic renewed my vigor for medicine and confirmed my longtime ambition. By applying prior knowledge and material that I learned during my internship, I have become more adept at diagnosing patients’ problems, and I learned that treating people with respect and courtesy will diffuse the most explosive situations and make operations run more efficiently. George Black ’09 Columbia Heart Clinic & Moore Orthopedic Clinic Columbia, South Carolina
	During my internship I accompanied middle school students on two week-long leadership trips. We took them along a tributary and taught them about the environment and about our impact on the water. We also talked with islanders who are directly affected by the drastic changes to and pollution of the bay. I learned how to teach students about the environment and show them how to be leaders within their groups. I enjoyed sharing outdoor education with students, and I realized that I prefer working outside as opposed to in an office. I discovered that I have a strong interest in the environmental policies that take place within the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and my curiosity has prompted me to take a policy class at Furman this fall. Rachel Fry ’09 Chesapeake Bay Foundation Norfolk, Virginia
	I now want to work in a field that I did not know existed before —bioremediation. Working on Furman’s lake restoration project with EarthDesign, Furman professors Min-Ken Liao and Wade Worthen and Mushroom Mountain’s Tradd Cotter showed me how different scientific disciplines can collaborate to solvea problem. We conducted experiments to test whether a mushroom-based filtration system could alleviate the bacterial problems in Furman Lake. I also learned ways to grow and use fungi, like using it in developing countries to turn hay bales into gardens. I saw my work positively impact the environment —this is the most rewarding feeling imaginable. Robert Harrell ’09 EarthDesign Greenville, South Carolina
	At the embassy I was surrounded by people working in a variety of fields with different mandates that were all part of the U.S. government’s overall mission: Department of Commerce, FBI, DEA, Secret Service, Department of State and more. I received special access to events that are normally restricted, like a meeting of the Canadian Parliament. While working in the Commercial Service office was interesting, I am now certain that it is not the career for me. However, I am now aware of many career options that could satisfy my desire to perform a public service and be challenged on multiple levels, like a career with the State Department in a stateside posting, or the FBI. Richard “Red” Hopkins ’10 U.S. Department of Commerce U.S. Foreign Commercial Service at the U.S. Embassy in Ottowa
	By the second week I knew what to do in any free time—sit in on the consensus and supervision meetings where graduate students presented findings from their therapy and assessment sessions. I learned a tremendous amount about how diagnoses are assigned and how to troubleshoot problems with difficult children and families. Toward the end of my work at the Child Study Center, I prepared a poster presentation with one of the graduate students. We will be presenting it at the conference of the Association for Behavior and Cognitive Therapies in Orlando. I feel honored to be able to begin preparing for my graduate career while still an undergraduate. Pia Landis ’10 Virginia Tech Child Study Center Blacksburg, Virginia
	As an ETV intern in the Special Projects production department, I learned the grueling work behind the magic that is a television show. My responsibilities were to establish the groundwork necessary to start filming a documentary on the Darlington Raceway and to assist in filming and producing “The Best of the ETV Roadshow.” The research skills I have developed at Furman were valuable as I searched for information on the history of Darlington Raceway. Furman equipped me with many of the skills to succeed in the world of public relations that is a part of television production, but ETV took those abilities and honed them, giving me real world experience. In doing so, my internship also taught me new skills and fresh ways of approaching old problems. Sally Morris ’10 SCETV Intern Columbia, South Carolina
	I realized I am not necessarily interested in marketing per se, but I did gain valuable information on how a language institute operates and sells itself. My internship both confirmed and changed my educational and career plans. I was inspired by the enthusiasm of the UNINTER faculty and students, and I definitely want to work in an academic environment. Moreover, the experience tweaked my post-graduation plans to include the possibility of operating my own English and foreign language institute in a foreign country. In a recent exchange with a Chilean associate, I expressed this idea, and she fell in love with it immediately. We are discussing the possibility of going into business together in the near future. In fact, during my last weeks of summer vacation, I visited all the language institutes in Santiago to investigate some of the possibilities of having an institute. I found the prospects to be promising.” Travis Sago ’09 Universidad Internacional (UNINTER) Cuernavaca, Chile