Senior Externship: Connecting with Real-World Experiences

WITNESSING A CEREBRAL angiography procedure to find the specific location of a brain aneurysm first-hand from an operating room is not a typical day in the life of a high school senior. Nor is learning to develop and build Next Gen NASCARs, sitting in on a criminal preliminary hearing in district court, or meeting with the CEO of Ally Financial.

These are just some of the ways 124 seniors took part in their Senior Externship, a one-day job shadowing and mentoring experience that exposes students to potential career opportunities with Charlotte-area employers.

“The Senior Externship is a way for our students to engage in real-world experiences and connect them with our community members,” said Assistant Dean of Students and Externship Coordinator Steve Wall. “Our parents, alumni, and friends of the school go out of their way to create meaningful, creative, and fun ways for our seniors to explore a profession and learn curiously outside the classroom walls. I am thankful that our community jumps at the chance to share their time, talents, and passion.”

In Their Own Words

We asked several students to share their perspectives, what they learned, and how the Externship experience will help with their college and future plans:

Adam Eligator ’23

Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, PLLC: “Government and politics are big interests of mine and my Externship experience opened my eyes to the possibility of pursuing law school after my undergraduate career concludes. The opportunity that Country Day seniors are presented with to shadow a friend of the school and experience a day with a profession in person is second to none. The Externship establishes connections for the future, offers insight towards future scholastic pursuits, and allows seniors to demonstrate life skills in a professional setting, not to mention the amount of fun we have!”

Annabelle Hernick ’23

Children’s Theatre of Charlotte and Blumenthal Performing Arts: “I was excited to work with professionals in my area of interest. Whether I was shadowing the light and sound board operators, disassembling sets, moving platforms for an event, or checking over light designs, I feel like I came away understanding so much more about the industry of technical theater as a whole. I never expected that after my Externships I would have so many connections in the Charlotte theater community, and now I’m considering taking a summer internship with Blumenthal!”

River Derby ’23

Sun Counseling: “I’m even more excited about my own future, both for college and my career, and I’m even more sure just how much I want to do what they do.”

Michael Woodard ’23

Ally Financial: “Meeting with the CEO Jeff “JB” Brown was amazing and being able to ask him anything about his path and the company was an eye-opening experience. I learned that to become successful in a job, it takes curiosity and the ability to apply yourself and that in the corporate world, mistakes are necessary and required to grow. I am so thankful for the experience, and it helped a lot with my college decision process.”

Sophia Saxonhouse ’23

Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery at Novant Health-- “This experience was truly one of the most amazing and influential days of my life. My dream job is to be a neurosurgeon, and this just further confirmed how much I want to pursue a field in medicine and how I need to continue working hard. I watched four cerebral angiography procedures done in the Cath Lab and I got to scrub in on an Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF). The highlight was watching the X-ray machine reconstruct the cerebrovascular structure of the brain from the angiography. The Externship gives us a chance to see if our dream or prospective career field is right for us.”

“Their professionalism and excellent questions made Charlotte Country Day School look good, and as a parent with two daughters in Middle School at Country Day, it made me deeply proud to be part of it. I’m excited about the opportunity they’ll have one day to explore their interests through the program!”

–Derek Thomas, senior director of analytics at NASCAR Research and Development Center

Student Entrepreneurs Go Before the Sharks: As students in Steve Wall’s Entrepreneurial Studies course pitched their “startups,” our panel of real business investors asked tough questions about acquisition costs, valuations, and competition. The “Shark Tank” presentation is the culmination of months of work that involves collaboration, research, problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity. Thanks to our Country Day alumni and parent judges, Rebecca Weeks Watson ’97, Roy Morejon, and Natasha McMichael ’95.