Get Ready
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Internships | Student Teaching Engineering Design Projects | Field Experience
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING: INTERNSHIPS AND MORE As you launch your career after graduation, potential employers will be looking for both education and experience. That’s why every student in our Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, and Engineering is encouraged to gain career practice through professional learning experiences. Traditional Internships are work-for-credit p rograms that provide students the opportunity to use and improve their practical skills in a professional organization while networking with potential employers. The experience and contacts gained give students a competitive advantage in the job market. Engineering Design Projects are comprehensive experiences where engineering students solve a real-world problem. First year students utilize the key engineering tools they’ve learned earlier in the year in order to design an original smart product that is displayed at the annual Emerging Engineers Expo. This team project lays the broad foundation for understanding how the various disciplines within engineering work together in industry applications. Senior Design Projects are a capstone to the engineering education at Western New England University. Students research and develop solutions to industry problems, often through sponsorship and collaboration with local and regional organizations or companies, including Shriners Hospitals for Children, LENOX Tools, FloDesign Sonics, Inc., and Texas Instruments. The Senior Design Project not only allows you to apply what you’ve learned, but also encourages you to research and explore new areas outside of the curriculum. Field Experience is the core of our Social Work program, which offers four different internships in your four years here, starting in your first semester. In fact, when you complete your degree, you will have over 650 hours of field work in social work settings. Student Teaching allows students in Elementary or Secondary Education programs to teach classes in local schools under the supervision of a licensed teacher. Between making lesson plans, giving lectures, and one-on-one tutoring, our students gain the skills and confidence to transition to full-fledged teachers.
Arts and Sciences
Helping the Greater Good
MADISON PEZZE Slingerlands, NY Senior Communication Children’s Miracle Network Intern Baystate Health Foundation
Madison Pezze’s main goal for after graduation is to be able to pursue a career that contributes to the greater good, and she is off to an excellent start through her internship with the Children’s Miracle Network through the Baystate Health Foundation. Her duties included the organizing of event equipment, soliciting donations, and working on creative design projects. She says she has learned important skills, including how to ask for donations and creating events from the bottom up. She says her most important takeaway from the experience was to always keep a smile on her face and remember what you are working towards. Madison says Western New England University has encouraged her to “say yes to everything” and has helped her build a solid foundation for her career and her life after she graduates. “Experience is the most beneficial quality in the business perspective,” she says. “Everyone that I have had the pleasure of working with at this University has influenced me with countless measures of opportunity, guidance, and the right tools. Such tools include creative thinking, confidence, poise, and respect, among many others. Using these tools to my advantage has made talking on the phone with sponsors and meeting new people going through the worst time of their lives, easier. This has helped me to speak with confidence, emotion, logic, and understanding.”
Business JAMYRE SOBERANIS Dorchester, MA Senior Sport Management Springfield Thunderbirds Intern Jamyre Soberanis had a busy and exciting internship working with the Game Day Operations team with the American Hockey League’s Springfield Thunderbirds. Every game brought a new experience for Jamyre and he had the perfect behindthe-scenes look at what goes into a winning team. “Every day I had a different task to do. This included putting mats out onto the ice for presentations, filming the game from the press box, or acting as a liaison to celebrity guests and ensuring they had a good experience. I learned about many aspects that are crucial to running a sports organization and making gameday go smoothly for the players and
Bringing his A-game to the Sport Industry the fans. Taking Sport Management classes at WNE really prepared me for this amazing experience and has given me the proper knowledge to be successful.” Jamyre says planning ahead helped him find the time to excel in all of his on-campus responsibilities, which aside from his internship, included academics and sports. “As far as balancing my schoolwork, internship, and football, I was able to make it all work. Most of our football workouts and practices are in the early morning, and I made sure to get my school work done ahead of time so I could just be focused on the Thunderbirds at night.” As Jamyre finishes his education, he has his eyes on his dream job: to be president of operations for a professional basketball or football team.
Engineering Powering Her Career SABRINA ARMENTO Groton, CT Recent Graduate Mechanical Engineering Associate Engineer The Lee Company Sabrina Armento had two very different internships, one at Gerber Technology working on safer equipment for the manufacturing of clothes, and another with the Lee Company, which offered her a job after graduation. “The Lee Company is an aerospace company that manufactures the small parts that go into jet engines,” she says. “During my internship. I worked with a group that tested the screens that filter out jet fuel in the engine. I did a lot of testing with the screens, including blowing them up, imploding them, and making sure they can withstand the power of a jet engine.” Western New England University was instrumental in giving Sabrina the experience, knowledge, and opportunities that helped her find success in her internship. She says her Senior Design Project of creating a laser was particularly helpful as The Lee Company is looking to obtain added manufacturing, which includes robotics, lasers, and 3D printing. “There are a lot of project opportunities at WNE to accelerate your knowledge,” Sabrina adds. “I’ve been able to take what I’ve learned from those projects and the classroom and bring it to my internships. We also have a great workstudy program, where I worked in the Mechanical Engineering lab. Having that on my résumé helped me get my internships in the first place just because I already had a background with being a hands-on engineer.”
Field Experience
Finding Purpose Through Community Involvement
BRIANNA PENNANT Windsor, CT Recent Graduate Social Work Rick’s Place The Gandara Center
“My fieldwork experiences have been amazing learning opportunities. I interned with Rick’s Place, which helps families and children grieve lost loved ones. I also interned with The Gandara Center for their Stop Access program, which works to prevent youth drug and alcohol use. These internships have helped me build my skills and knowledge, put me in situations that are similar to what I will encounter in my career, and gave me the tools to help clients.”
Pharmacy and Health Sciences
“I learned a great deal about the roles and responsibilities of pharmacy administrators in a health system. As I am pursuing a career in pharmacy administration, everything that I did on this rotation impacted the way in which I practice pharmacy. It also gave me many ideas for how I hope to run a department of pharmacy in the future. I am so grateful to have been able to elect this unique opportunity in my education.�
Exploring Pharmacy Rotations CHRISTINA ANDROS Wilbraham, MA Recent Graduate PGY1/PGY2 Health-System Pharmacy Administration Resident Aurora Healthcare Milwaukee, WI Pharmacy students do several rotations in different pharmacy environments to gain an understanding of various careers in the industry. For Christina Andros, her most impactful rotation was in pharmacy administration at Hallmark Health System. She worked directly with the clinical pharmacy manager and residency program director in completing work in process and policy development for both hospitals of the health system. She also participated in pharmacy and therapeutics committee meetings, completed drug utilization reviews, and wrote antibiotic dosing protocols, which allowed her to draw upon her pharmacy education as well as learn new techniques and methods of practice.
Student Teaching From Undergraduate Student to the Head of the Classroom
SEAMUS MCKAIG Orono, ME Recent Graduate Secondary Education—History Pre-practicum, John J. Duggan Academy “My pre-practicum experience was eye opening because it was the first time that I viewed a high school classroom from the perspective of a teacher. Knowing more about what goes on behind the scenes has allowed me to make connections between what I’m taught in the classroom here at Western New England University and its real-world applications.”
LET THE CAREER DEVELOPMENT CENTER BE YOUR GUIDE Whether you’re already working towards your dream career or are still exploring career options, the Career Development Center is an important resource in planning your next steps. Its programs are designed to guide you with c areer planning and preparation from freshman year to graduation—and beyond. Visit wne.edu/career for job opportunities, internships, recruiting schedules, and career-related workshops and activities. Meet with a career counselor or search our website in order to:
The Center’s resources include: • internship assistance and workshops • job-seeking tips and skills • data on labor market trends • individual career counseling • employer contacts We also offer the CareerCenter Online, an impressive tool that will help you:
• select a major and explore careers
• make an appointment with a career c ounselor or potential employer
• find a part-time job or internship
• store your résumé and other career-related documents
• strategize about jobs
• research potential internship or job o pportunities
• plan for graduate school
WHERE OUR STUDENTS INTERN An internship is an opportunity to learn new skills, immerse yourself in the industry, and Âimpress potential employers. It’s a time to explore new and exciting career directions and get a glimpse into what life holds for you after graduation.
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SPRINGFIELD, MA PERMIT NO. 896
FOR MORE INFORMATION 800-325-1122 or 413-782-1321 learn@wne.edu wne.edu CONNECT WITH US @wneuniversity • #wne facebook twitter YOUTUBE Instagram
Get Ready
For Your
Career
Internships | Student Teaching Engineering Design Projects | Field Experience