By John Wall
media relations director Photography: J.D. Cavrich (unless noted)
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Scott O’Neill ’80, a retired attorney from West Chester, Pa., believes internships are the new key to employment for recent college graduates. Certainly amazing grades and glowing letters of recommendation help, but to close the deal with an employer, you better have an internship—maybe two. O’Neill says an internship during his College career at a forestry camp at Trough Creek, secured by Bob Reilly, professor emeritus of social work, opened the world for him. O’Neill wanted to give current students similar pathways to success.
—Scott O’Neill ’80
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2011-2012 President’s Report
Photo (right): Rachel Pray
he classic model for a liberal arts education espouses that students take as many different courses as possible to create a solid grounding in analysis and logic. Lately, forward-thinking institutions such as Juniata have brought experiential learning into the mix. Juniata has been doing this sort of thing for decades, but in the past 10 years the College’s main focus on providing hands-on lessons in real-world situations has centered on providing challenging (and sometimes life-changing) internships.
“I don’t know how students today can get into the work force without a meaningful internship. It gives the student a foot in the door, which can often lead to a job at the business when they graduate or at least provide networking opportunities.”