Graduate School: Is it right for me?

Posted on by Knowlton Center for Career Exploration

Is Graduate School Right for Me? Four people you should talk to!

Graduate school is a big decision. A big decision that means a significant investment of time, energy, money, and your ability to binge watch the latest Hulu original series. Before you dive in, it’s best to be intentional about why you are going to graduate school and why you are choosing to go now in particular. This reflective thinking is a daunting task to tackle solo, but if you talk to the right people, you can feel so much better in your decision-making process. Who are these magical individuals that will help you decide “YAY” or NAY” on graduate school? Here are the four major players we suggest…

#1. A Faculty Member You Trust

Faculty see into your soul, we mean it. They have observed you in an academic setting: how you approach intellectual tasks, how to face challenges, and what excites you within the sphere of learning. They also have a deep, can’t-forget-it-if-they-tried memory of what the graduate school experience was like. Faculty can provide advice that combines their knowledge of graduate school processes with their knowledge of you, producing some pretty accurate feedback in most cases. If this faculty member also happens to be in the discipline you aspire to join, all the better! Then they can also provide advice on faculty members at other schools who are solid (and maybe those who are less so) as well as schools with stellar programs (and those that you should stay far, far away from).

#2. A Denison Alumnus

Alumni know things. They too have stress eaten at Curtis while trying to figure life out. They want to help. Find an alumnus who is in the industry you want to join: they will give realistic advice on how a graduate degree will influence your employment ability and the tasks/skills/knowledge most beneficial for the industry. Find an alumnus who went to graduate school for what you want to study: they will let you know the ins and outs of the application process. How do you find such alumni? Let’s count the ways:

       1.  Faculty in your field often remember their students, keep in contact and give out referrals.
       2.  Wisr: a networking platform meant to connect Denison students to Denison alum in a magical synergy.
       3.  The “Find Alumni Tool” on LinkedIn: don’t know about it? Your life is about to change.

Reaching out to alums can be scary…. don’t be afraid to stop by the Knowlton Center for advice on how to do so professionally!

#3. A Knowlton Center Career Coach

You all knew this was coming. Knowlton Center Career Coaches can help you examine your interests, goals, and motivations for graduate school and help with strategy on deciding when and where to attend. Plus, we can help you rock the application process if you decide it is right for you to attend graduate school! Everything from selecting graduate programs, preparing for the GRE, writing your personal statement: we’ve got your back. How to begin? Make an appointment online via Handshake, call (740) 587-6656, or just stop by Burton Morgan 306. We hope to see you soon!

#4. An Important Person in Your Life

People who know you well are always good to talk to. For some, that is a parent, a significant other, the guy down the hall who is a great listener, whatever. Talk out your thought process, ask them to listen for the underlying motivations you have, encourage them to ask you questions, let them help you think through this decision. The more you talk about this, the more aware you will become of your own goals, strengths, and values.

Ok folks, time to buckle down and get talking! Best wishes on the graduate school exploration process!

Denisonians in Health Professions: Genetic Counseling

Posted on by Knowlton Center for Career Exploration

Name:  Samone Schneider
Denison Graduation Year:   Class of 2016
Denison Major:  Biology
Professional School:  Master of Science in Genetic Counseling from Joan H. Marks Graduate Program in Human Genetics, Class of 2018
Contact Me:  vt.samone@gmail.com

What is the focus of your professional school and what content has most engaged you?

I entered college knowing that I wanted to become a genetic counselor. The field is very new and continuously expanding with many different opportunities. In addition, I had a real passion for genetics and a desire to work closely with patients. Genetic counselors work with their patients to evaluate their personal and family history and determine which tests are the most appropriate. Also, genetic counselors work very hard to obtain true informed consent and educate the patient on not only why we are offering the given test, but how it can impact the patient and their family.

Describe the process you went through while selecting your professional school pathway: what impacted your decision?

The majority of individuals who enter a genetic counseling training program end up taking at least one gap year. The acceptance rate for these programs is actually quite low, so it was important to have an impressive resume. While your academic performance is very important to these schools, so are your experiences outside of the classroom. One of the largest examples is some sort of counseling experience and some exposure to the field itself. Personally, I quickly became a part of SHARE on the Denison campus and became as involved as possible (being an advocate, being on-call trained, participating in events, and presenting during freshman orientation). For my exposure to the field, I spent all three of my summers shadowing and eventually interning with a genetic counselor. My summers were quite busy, because I also worked throughout the summer too. It took a lot of work, but I was able to get into the program straight from undergrad.

What challenges did you face on the way to medical school, and how did you overcome them?

Definitely my relationships with my classmates. Graduate programs tend to be quite small (mine was ~25 individuals), so it becomes a very tight knit community. In addition, our program worked very hard to eliminate a competitive environment and instead made us feel like we were working together to accomplish a goal. This attitude extends to the professional community as well: genetic counselors tend to look out for one another.

What are your professional plans post-graduation?

That is a very hard question! I love my job for many different reasons, probably the most of which is the relationships I am able to cultivate with my patients. I have a lot of autonomy in my job, so I can really take the time my patient needs to hear them out and what they need from me or the hospital. It can be an extremely satisfying job.

What advice would you give a current Denison student considering a graduate or professional program like yours?

Take the time to build your resume with things that make you an interesting applicant. There are many experiences you can get while at Denison (ex. tutoring, TA-ing, SHARE, research, etc.), but it is also important to get experience off campus. Take advantage of the internships that are available. Also sometimes you need to create your own opportunities. When I was shadowing with a genetic counselor I kept asking what I could do to make her life easier. I ended up getting involved in research with her and eventually becoming her intern. Even if you are only given the ability to redraw pedigrees for example, that is still a huge learning opportunity. To find a genetic counselor, use the NSGC.org Find a Genetic Counselor tool. Many hospitals have strict rules about students, but even chatting with a genetic counselor over coffee is something you can add to your resume. In addition, many programs do “career days”, which can also count as exposure to the field. I am also always happy to speak to any student in more detail!

Denisonians in Health Professions: Allopathic Medicine

Posted on by Knowlton Center for Career Exploration

Name:  Carol Vitellas
Denison Graduation Year:  Class of 2018
Denison Major:  Computer Science
Professional School:  Pursuing an MD at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Class of 2022
Contact Me:  carol.vitellas@osumc.edu

What is the focus of your professional school and what content has most engaged you?

At the OSU College of Medicine, I am most engaged when working with patients. What makes being a medical student at OSU so unique is that during your first month of school, you are paired with a physician and get to work in their practice every other week for 2 years. In my first month of medical school I was taking real patient vital signs and histories, as well as presenting this information to the doctor. At other institutions, medical students usually do not get to work with patients until their 3rd year, so I am very appreciative of this opportunity. The ability to help real patients not only gives me valuable practice with my clinical skills, but it also gives meaning to my schoolwork at times when studying can seem overwhelming and tedious.

Describe the process you went through while selecting your professional school pathway: what impacted your decision?

While at Denison, I had two seemingly conflicting passions: medicine and computer science. I had always known I wanted to attend medical school upon entering college, but accidentally fell in love with computer science during my first semester. Rather than give up one of my passions, I pursued a degree in computer science while simultaneously completing my pre-medical course requirements. I was constantly asked why I was majoring in computer science if I wanted to go to medical school, as the two fields seemingly have little overlap in their application. However, I actually found that computer science opened several unique opportunities to me! One such opportunity was the ability to lead data analysis for a clinical research project in a gene therapy lab at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. I also had the opportunity to design an artificially intelligent diagnostic algorithm for breast cancer in my Artificial Intelligence class. Not only were these projects extremely interesting to partake in, but they also provided great talking point for interviews! In fact, my computer science major was brought up in every interview that I attended, and it was really neat to have something to talk about that helped me stand out from other applicants. I would therefore encourage pre-med students to pursue their passions, even if they don’t fall within the typical pre-med pathway! Medical schools are interested in you as a whole person, and your unique abilities, talents, and interests will only add depth to your application.

What challenges did you face on the way to medical school, and how did you overcome them?

While I have only received one-semester of medical school education, I have definitely encountered several challenges. The main challenge that I did not foresee was having to completely change the way that I study. Although I have been a high achieving student in the past and had a great handle on how to study in high school and undergrad, medical school proved to be an entirely different ball game. It is not unusual for my peers and I to put in 10-12 hours a day reviewing material. The sheer amount of information forces you to come up with new, more efficient, and quicker ways of studying just to keep from falling behind. Every student that I know in my class has also had to adapt to new study methods this year, and everyone’s technique is constantly shifting and evolving, even now that we are in our second semester! My advice to students who are entering medical school would be to be ready for change, focus on what works best for you and not what works best for your peers, and to be patient with yourself as you adjust to this new way of learning!

What are your professional plans post-graduation?

When I graduate from medical school in 2022, I plan on entering some kind of residency program, but I am currently very unsure about what specialty I would like to pursue. Although it is a little scary being so uncertain about the future, people tell me that going into my 3rd and 4th year rotations with an open mind will help me find the field that best suits me. I hope they are right!

What advice would you give a current Denison student considering a graduate or professional program like yours?

Apply EARLY. I cannot stress this enough. Medical schools admit students on a rolling basis and classes will fill up, so it is in your very best interest to apply right on June 1st. I took the MCAT late and couldn’t apply till the fall of my senior year. This put my application deep under the pile of the students who had applied early, and definitely added unneeded stress onto my application process. While some students were interviewed in August and received acceptances in October, I didn’t receive interviews until January, and acceptances until a few weeks before graduation! Do yourself (and your mental health) a favor and apply as early as you can! On another note, I would recommend students complete some sort of anatomy coursework before they enter medical school. I did not take anatomy in high school or in undergrad, and found it challenging to adapt to the anatomical terminology used in our most recent muscular/skeletal system unit. It is absolutely not necessary to take anatomy, but it will definitely make the transition into medical school a lot smoother and easier! Even if it is just taking a free online “Intro to Anatomy” class the summer before, I would recommend students familiarize themselves with the field before entering medical school.

Denison Internship Program: Featured Summer Intern

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Caeli Davis

Year:  Class of 2021
Majors:  Biology, and Health, Exercise & Sport Studies (HESS)
Internship Provider:  University of Kentucky
Title:  Research Assistant
Location:  Lexington, KY

What are you doing for your internship? What are some of your responsibilities?

I am conducting research on ovarian cancer. I am looking specifically at fluids in screening and if a sonographer sees fluids in a screening can it correlate to cancer or abnormalities. Every day I collect the data from the sonographers and then go back to the lab and analyze the results. Also, go through the patient records and see if they have a family history of cancer. Through this research, I will be able to identify if there are fluids in a patients screening will that raise concern.

What do you like most about your internship so far? What has been your favorite part of the experience?

My favorite part of the internship is learning more about how to conduct research and how screening patients can result in discovering maybe the cause of ovarian cancer or other types of cancer. I also love how I am able to do research but have days where I am experiencing vast areas of the medical field if that being observing live surgeries in the OR, doing rotations with the medical students or working with a different provider to see what they do and sitting in to Tumor Conference where doctors talk about their patients and see what they are doing is the best thing for the patient. Also exploring Kentucky and seeing Lexington with the different opportunities they offer. More importantly, listening to the patients and hear their stories on how grateful they are for the program and how it saved their lives.

Which skills have you learned or strengthened during your internship that you think will help when applying for jobs/graduate schools?

I have strengthened my use of Microsoft Excel and analyzing data. Also, multitasking I have learned that I feel will help me when applying for jobs in the future. Another thing is not having tunnel vision taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture because there were times I became frustrated and taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture helped me from not missing anything. I am able to communicate with coworkers and patients effectively I am not as nervous and is able to vocalize what I needed or what I can bring to the table. I feel that these skills will be applicable to any team-based job that covers multiple duties. I also feel more prepared for a job with the potential to grow into a higher position.

How has your time and experience at Denison prepared you for this internship? How have you used your liberal arts education during your internship?

My time and experiences at Denison have definitely prepared me for my internship. Especially with my HESS degree and learning about the patients and not treating them like such. Even with the multiple assignments, I am given in the office, it is no different than Denison’s rigorous and fast paced required academic assignments from the variety of classes that I take. In addition, my experiences at Denison, working in the classroom, consist of problem solving and creativity. For the most part, I was doing lab work the attention to detail that I learned is really important especially for what I am doing.

Denisonians in Health Professions: Biomedical Sciences

Posted on by Knowlton Center for Career Exploration

Name:  Maria Mancini
Denison Graduation Year:  2016
Denison Major:  Biochemistry
Professional School:  pursuing an MD at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Class of 2021
Contact Me:  mancin_m1@denison.edu

What is the focus of your professional school and what content has most engaged you?

I am currently in medical school, which involves not only education in the biomedical sciences and the development of clinical skills, but also engagement in social justice issues and bioethics. Of the medical science topics studied, I favor histopathology because I find it a very beautiful representation of cause and effect, and being able to directly visualize the cellular basis for a diagnosis is incredibly satisfying. However, in considering my medical education as a whole, I most enjoy how it fosters a growth in social and cultural awareness, and it is rewarding to see the positive effects on patient outcomes when these factors are considered in patient care.

Describe the process you went through while selecting your professional school pathway: what impacted your decision?

I chose to attend medical school because my deepest passion in life is puzzles. I’ve always been drawn to the sciences because of their inherent puzzle-like approach to understanding phenomena. I explored various scientific career paths–interning with and shadowing many areas of healthcare at the Cleveland Clinic, spending several years immersed in research that ranged from organic and analytical chemistry to behavioral ecology, self-studying basic computer programming, and much more–and while research satisfied my need for puzzles, I often felt the human aspect was missing. I enjoyed solving research problems, but I didn’t get the satisfaction I got from learning from and attempting to aid the doctors I worked with to really understand a patient. I truly felt at home in medicine.

What challenges did you face on the way to medical school, and how did you overcome them?

I faced a number of challenges including some significant physical and mental health issues as well as personal trauma that stretched me to the limit of what I could cope with. However, these are the experiences that help you become a good doctor. When you understand pain, you are often more sensitive regarding the pain of others. I was fortunate enough that my inner drive and stubborn refusal to quit were strong enough to keep me going. However, given how hard this was on my physical well-being, when treating patients I hope to promote the idea that there is no single definition of success. Sometimes choosing to discontinue the path you are currently on is what is best for you. I believe that is a much healthier attitude to take when approaching challenges.

What are your professional plans post-graduation?

I am currently undecided on a specialty, but I am heavily considering pathology or OB/GYN.

What advice would you give a current Denison student considering a graduate or professional program like yours?

Really use your time in undergrad to perfect your wellness rhythm. Although you may feel as though you are consistently stressed and crunched for time right now at Denison, the amount of information you are given at a time increases by tenfold and the amount of time you must spend studying increases exponentially in medical school. Use this time to figure out how you best study, how you de-stress and take care of yourself, how you plan and stick to your schedule, and basically how you do you. Because if you have this down, you will be much more likely to be able to apply it when things go crazy in med school (i.e. always) and it will significantly protect you from overwhelming anxiety and burnout.

Denison Internship Program: Featured Summer Intern

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Max Curtin

Year:  Class of 2021
Majors:  Global Commerce & Economics
Internship Provider:  Denison University’s Investment Office
Title:  Summer Intern
Location:  Granville, OH

What are you doing for your internship? What are some of your responsibilities?

I couldn’t have asked for more from my first internship experience. I’m now in my 10th and final week at the office this summer, and while the time has certainly flown by, I feel as though I have been a part of this team forever! In a small office environment that consists of just seven full-time employees, the two other interns and myself find it very comforting to have joined such a tight-knit group. I started on Day 1 back in May by working with Caïssa, a multi asset class portfolio analytics software new to the office earlier this year with the hopes of updating the portfolio’s records on all fronts in order to more accurately forecast future projections. In the process, I have learned a massive amount about a wide range of asset classes in our Endowment’s portfolio, and more broadly about investing as a whole. Along the way, I earned my Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) Certification and familiarized myself with the Bloomberg Terminal, honed my skills with Microsoft Excel, and presented on Bonds and Fixed Income in a PowerPoint Presentation in front of the whole office.

What do you like most about your internship so far? What has been your favorite part of the experience?

There hasn’t been anything about my internship that I haven’t liked, so this is a tough question. If I had to narrow it down to one part, it would be having the opportunity every day to pick the brains of everyone around me in the office. It’s so refreshing to be in a work environment where people not only are knowledgeable and passionate about the industry, but eager to share what they have learned!

Which skills have you learned or strengthened during your internship that you think will help when applying for jobs/graduate schools?

The three biggest skill takeaways that come to mind are Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Bloomberg. With that being said, the most valuable skills I have learned are things I have picked up from every-day experiences in the office. I have learned just how important attention to detail can be in the workplace, and how the “little things” can sometimes make all the difference.

How has your time and experience at Denison prepared you for this internship? How have you used your liberal arts education during your internship?

I have used my liberal arts education every single day during my internship. Articulating ideas and coming up with meaningful questions are important in every industry, and finance is certainly no different. By approaching every task seriously and with care, I have been able to maximize my efficiency and really make a difference in the office. Additionally, listening and making key takeaways has proven to be invaluable for me this summer. I believe it’s something that is a major part of a liberal arts education, and also a major part of life!

Denison Internship Program: Featured Summer Intern

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Sarah Wilson

Year:  Class of 2020
Majors:  English (Creative Writing) & Theatre
Internship Provider:  Columbus Museum of Art
Title:  Learning Department Intern Coordinator
Location:  Columbus, OH

What are you doing for your internship? What are some of your responsibilities?

As an intern coordinator with the learning department at CMA, I [am] providing teaching and administrative support for a variety of educational programs. Currently, my main responsibility is assistant teaching Summer Art Workshops, which are week-long camps for preschool-high school students focused on making art based around big ideas, rather than specific art “skills.” I am based in the same classroom for the entirety of camp, where I handle check-in and check-out, snacks, supporting and leading educational activities, leading tours around the museum, and integrating a rotating group of part-time interns into the classroom. As most of the teachers are hired for just a single camp, I am the main point-person in the workshop for the learning department staff and especially for other interns, whose day-to-day duties are generally organized by me. Outside of the summer art workshops, I support learning department initiatives by assisting with open studio time, leading materials explorations for visiting students, and embarking on “museum on the moves,” which are ideas-based art programs at Columbus area libraries that aim to provide kids with a basis for creative storytelling and recycled materials to create art based on their stories. My favorite part of the internship is leading gallery activities with campers or visiting students, called artful adventures tours. Fine art is culturally considered highbrow and inaccessible, especially for our campers who are mainly intercity low-income students, so it is incredibly rewarding to lead programs that introduce them to art in engaging, accessible ways.

What do you like most about your internship so far? What has been your favorite part of the experience?

The most enjoyable part about my internship is learning different ways to think about and engage with art. I have always been taught there is a right way to experience fine art: looking quietly, trying to find the “meaning,” feeling vaguely inferior. But experiencing art with kids is completely different, especially with CMA’s emphasis on big ideas and creative thinking. They feel art with all of their senses and have strong ideas for how to interpret it: this painting is of a robot, or that statue is a mermaid. The blue of that sculpture is the smell of cotton candy. Being able to facilitate the experiences of students, preschool through high school aged, has taught me how to experience art without boundaries or feelings of inferiority, which has opened my mind as an artist myself. Additionally, the more I get to see the museum through my student’s eyes, the better I am able to create activities, tours, and projects that will support their creativity and instill ownership over art.

Which skills have you learned or strengthened during your internship that you think will help when applying for jobs/graduate schools?

Workplace multitasking is a skill I have learned that I feel will help me when applying for jobs in the future. On a typical day in my internship, I juggle administrative duties such as communicating with parents and keeping track of workshop schedules, preparing and leading hands-on classroom activities, and managing the part-time intern core. I end my day in rehearsal at a professional theatre company after a full work day at the museum. These experiences have taught me how to be flexible, organized across a variety of tasks from preparing snacks to filing emergency forms, and how to collaborate in a team in which I am both supervised by a teacher and supervising other interns. In the future, I feel that these skills will be applicable to any team-based job that covers multiple duties. I also feel more prepared for a job with the potential to grow into a higher position, as now I have experience both working under a manager and managing other people.

How has your time and experience at Denison prepared you for this internship? How have you used your liberal arts education during your internship?

Denison’s liberal arts education has helped me in a variety of ways in my internship. I have applied the critical thinking and close reading skills from my English major to creating gallery tours and classroom activities centered around engaging deeply with pieces of art. I have utilized the collaboration skills from my Theatre major to work effectively in a teaching team that consists of a new teaching artist every week, interns that come and go in shifts, and the multitude of permanent museum staff that I interact with in different capacities every day. I have used the basic art history and history of education knowledge from my general education classes in order to provide a background to the curriculum I am supporting. Outside of these specific, skills-based experiences, I have also found my liberal arts education useful because it taught me how to deal with a breadth of different information; I feel comfortable toggling between administrative, creative, and management tasks on the flip of a dime and keeping multiple balls in the air every day, which I credit to a Denison experience that is full of a multitude of different classes, student jobs, and activities every day.

Denison Internship Program: Featured Summer Intern

Posted on by Knowlton Center for Career Exploration

Rowan Sharkey

Year:  Class of 2021
Majors:  Environmental Studies & Data Analytics
Internship Provider:  DAAD Rise German Exchange
Title:  Research Assistant
Location:  Berlin, Germany

What are you doing for your internship? What are some of your responsibilities?

I am conducting research on urban air quality in the city of Berlin. I am looking specifically at how airports impact the air quality of neighborhoods that lie downwind from them. Every day I bike around the city collecting data, then go back to the lab and analyze the results. Through this research, I will be able to identify the areas in which people are more at risk for health issues due to poor air quality.

What do you like most about your internship so far? What has been your favorite part of the experience?

I have loved learning more about how to conduct research and use different coding languages, but most of all I have loved having the opportunity to live in Berlin and experience the culture. By being stationed here, I have been able to travel to different countries every week. Getting the opportunity to travel while still doing work that I love has been an incredible experience!

Which skills have you learned or strengthened during your internship that you think will help when applying for jobs/graduate schools?

I have loved learning more about how to conduct research and use different coding languages, but most of all I have loved having the opportunity to live in Berlin and experience the culture. By being stationed here, I have been able to travel to different countries every week. Getting the opportunity to travel while still doing work that I love has been an incredible experience!

How has your time and experience at Denison prepared you for this internship? How have you used your liberal arts education during your internship?

As a data analyst [major], I had previous experience working with languages such as R, python, and SQL, but this internship has allowed me to take those skills and implement them in a work place environment. Being able to work in a team filled with PhD students has been humbling and has also shown me a glimpse of what it is like to be a part of a real team. Therefore, this internship has strengthened my team building skills and has given me insight into how projects operate outside of a school setting.

Denison Internship Program: Featured Summer Intern

Posted on by Knowlton Center for Career Exploration

Matthew McHugh

Year:  Class of 2020 (Rising Senior)
Majors:  History & Communication
Internship Provider:  PMI Industries
Title:  Export Control Intern
Location:  Cleveland, OH

What are you doing for your internship? What are some of your responsibilities?

So far, my work at PMI has involved foreign trade compliance and business development. On the compliance side, I have been editing/updating PMI’s export compliance policy and additional documents. I have also been creating supplement compliance documents to simplify US export control regulations so that other PMI employees can better understand our responsibilities. I have been spending the majority of my time working collaboratively with the President of PMI on a business development project. 

What do you like most about your internship so far? What has been your favorite part of the experience?

For this project, I am in the process of creating an export strategic plan. The majority of my work has included preliminary market analysis of 194 countries through trade statistics and then more in-depth qualitative research on a select number of countries. I have tackled this project from two different angles, looking at two very different industries that PMI’s products serve. By doing this I have essentially divided this large scope project into two smaller projects that are grounded in two different industries.

Which skills have you learned or strengthened during your internship that you think will help when applying for jobs/graduate schools?

My favorite experiences thus far have included the work I have done in my business development project. The class I took at The Ohio State University, “Establishing Export Firms” at the Fisher College of Business, gave me essential skills, but being able to apply those skills to a real world setting is very rewarding. I have also enjoyed collaborating with employees from different departments within the company, whether that be sales, engineering, or executives.

How has your time and experience at Denison prepared you for this internship? How have you used your liberal arts education during your internship?

I have learned hard skills that have made me proficient in international trade compliance and business development with an international focus. I have also maturated soft skills such as professionalism.

Denison Internship Program: Featured Summer Intern

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Cierra King

Year:  Class of 2020 (Rising Senior)
Major:  Communication
Internship Provider:  The Communication Center
Title:  Audio Visual Intern
Location:  Washington, D.C.

What are you doing for your internship? What are some of your responsibilities?

My job consist of a few duties. Most of my time is spent recording training sessions for the certified coaches and trainees. These training’s or sessions can take a few hours, a day or even a week. If I am not working the camera, I am most likely working on my summer project for the office. This project focuses on marketing strategies to promote a free training session to summer interns that are currently working in Washington, D.C. My job is to create flyers and coordinated with the office most effective ways to get a nice turnout. My other duties are centered around preparing for up and coming training’s as well as entering data into TCC database to keep up with surveys given by recent clients or participants.

What do you like most about your internship so far? What has been your favorite part of the experience?

My favorite part is listening to the variety of knowledge that training coaches gives to each of the participants, in order to shape their communication skills. What I like most is working the camera and learning how to wrap cable cords the right way so they last long. However, being behind the camera during media training’s is the best. It’s a chance for me to observe how participants can handle the lights, camera, and action.

Which skills have you learned or strengthened during your internship that you think will help when applying for jobs/graduate schools?

One skill that I know is constantly being strengthened is my ability to effectively communicate in a workplace. Since my internship is a small owned business, it’s very much a different environment than working in a large company. Instead of my internship requiring me to work a quick pace, I am working a less stressful environment. The communication is very much valued and also confidence is imperative to TCC because their is a consistent rush of clients coming in and out of the office each day. If I were to apply for a news station job, I definitely will have the skill to work the cameras on set, wire up clients, and even wrap cable cords. In addition, if given the opportunity, I can take what I have learned during media training’s, and use it in front of the camera as well. The last skill that would serve me well is data entry and marketing design. I am consistently working on designs for the free workplace communication session being offered to summer interns working in Washington, D.C. 

How has your time and experience at Denison prepared you for this internship? How have you used your liberal arts education during your internship?

My time and experiences at Denison has definitely prepared me for my internship. Recognizing the smaller work environment correlates to TCC office environment. Even with the multiple assignments I am given in the office, it is no different than Denison’s rigorous and fast paced required academic assignments from the variety of classes that I take. In addition, my experiences at Denison, working in the classroom, consist of problem solving and creativity have served me well at The Communication Center. Everyday I am challenged to figure out solutions to creating strategies that will make the coaches and clients life easier. This is done, by carefully providing technical assistants with power points as well as uploading footage. The creativity is inspired by my love in the arts, and specifically theatre. This experience plays a huge role in understanding the coaches as they teach about media training and how to master Q&A time. This particular experience at TCC is similar to what I have learned at Denison about Improvisational theory. To summarize it, Improvisational Theory is basically, having an awareness, everything in life is a performance. Most of all, although I have a interest in Communication and a minor in Theater, my hands are in many different things just like at Denison. One day I am working the camera, next hour I am assisting in preparing for the next training. Overall, being detailed oriented, having a concise and clear communication skill, being open to figuring out things on your own, as well as being an effective listener is critical in a workplace environment such like TCC, that values customer satisfaction.

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