Internship Ready

hat began as a summer internship turned into a career path for Michael Powell, a Slippery Rock University chemistry major who will graduate next year with a job offer waiting for him in his dream career field.

A senior from Mt. Joy, Powell will join Metso as a laboratory operations technician upon graduating in the spring after completing a summer internship as a lab technician. Metso is a Finnish industrial company that provides sustainable technologies for aggregates, mining, recycling and metals refining.

Throughout his three-month-long role in Metso’s test center in York, Powell worked on projects ranging from sample preparation and laboratory inventory, to integrating standard protocols for chemical reactions. Powell’s work introduced him to collaborative global experiences, working with labs in Texas, California and even as far as a Finland and Brazil.

“I learned the administrative work of a laboratory, something you can’t get without experience, and I also learned how to be extremely analytical,” Powell said. “I learned industrial instrumentation, which was a huge bonus, versus research instrumentation that most college labs have.”

After showing his chemistry expertise and refining his skills, Powell was offered a temporary, year-long role at the York lab, where he will focus on elemental analysis, inventory, and communication between labs.

“Chemistry has always been my passion, but I often thought about if I would be able to create a career out of it,” he said. “What this opportunity showed me was that science isn’t dead.”

Powell said he was able to use his experience at SRU to achieve his new position. He attributes his experience as the president of the Chemistry Club at SRU, research with faculty and professional guidance by SRU professors Qi Chen and Thaddeus Boron, to his success in securing his job with Metso.

or Slippery Rock University senior Bailey Kuhn, a lifelong passion for the Pittsburgh Penguins turned into a career-defining opportunity behind the cameras of one of the NHL’s most successful franchises.

Kuhn, a strategic communication and media major from Volant, worked as an onsite video producer and editor intern for the Penguins last summer. She recorded and edited practices, press conferences and community events while gaining insight into the daily operations at PPG Paints Arena.

“What stood out to me most were their values and culture,” Kuhn said. “Even though I was ‘just an intern,’ I truly felt like I had a place within the organization. I had my own workspace, received helpful feedback and got to see a lot of things the average fan doesn’t.”

A typical day included setting up player interviews, filming drills, capturing press conferences and logging footage for the team’s social media and broadcast channels. Kuhn gained hands-on experience with professional Sony FS7 cameras and even met Penguins legends Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

“This experience really challenged me,” Kuhn said. “It gave me the chance to work with high-definition cameras and gain experience in a professional environment. I met so many people, including the players, and took every opportunity to make new connections.”

Although her internship ended in August, Kuhn has been invited back for future opportunities, including game-day control room work.

Kuhn was able to leverage classroom experience and faculty mentorship from SRU to secure her spot in the internship.

“Video Production with Dr. Brett Barnett helped me the most with Adobe Premiere and basic editing skills,” Kuhn said. “Message Preparation with Dr. Franklyn Charles helped with interviewing. It was awesome to apply what I learned with the players.

“This experience made me realize that sports media is definitely the career path I want to pursue.”

hen Elsie Eason transferred into Slippery Rock University, she knew that she wanted to teach. A nursing major at her previous school, Eason had a close friend at SRU who pushed for her to come to The Rock to study education.

“I wanted to become a teacher for a lot of reasons,” Eason said. “I see children as so impressionable, and we need more kind, well-rounded people, so I think teaching young kids allows you to make a difference in how people think and view the world for the rest of their lives.”

A program that Eason found particularly impactful for her experience at SRU was RockTEACH, a program that offers prospective teachers a glimpse into what being an educator looks like. RockTEACH forges partnerships with local high schools and connects students to education faculty and SRU education majors. For Eason, this provided her an opportunity to connect with and invest in students from underrepresented groups by helping to ensure that their education is relevant to their lives and that they are valued in the educational environment. As a woman of color in education, this work was important to Eason.

Now, Eason is a senior special education major with a focus on autistic support. While fulfilling her student-teaching requirement, Eason is working at Brookline Elementary School in Pittsburgh in a classroom with third and fourth graders who are on the autism spectrum. Through her student teaching, Eason gained experiences that wouldn’t have been possible in a college classroom setting.

“In my classes, we talk a lot about the range of behaviors that special needs students can present,” Eason said. “It was nice to be able to connect those conversations from the classroom to my students.”

Even when the classroom environment is stressful, Eason knows this is where she is meant to be.

“I like seeing my students grow,” Eason said. “There have been a few times where I’ll teach a lesson and they’re just not getting it that day. Then I’ll come in next time and they’ll nail everything and that’s when you know that they’re really progressing.”