As part of the Youth Advocacy and Involvement Office in the Department of Administration, 10 N.C. State students will be among the 63 students chosen to intern at various state agencies this summer.
According to Governor Bev Perdue, these paid internships will provide students with highly interactive experiences in careers they are interested in exploring.
“This program brings three great benefits to North Carolina,” Perdue said. “It gives our best and brightest students invaluable real-world experience in public service; it gives our state employees a helping hand during the summer vacation months, when state departments often need help the most; and it provides North Carolina citizens with extra services and important work throughout the summer.”
The Technician reached out to the N.C. State interns, and here is what they had to share about their experiences, which started Monday.
Jason Fenske, senior in mechanical engineering with a minor in Spanish
“I have been selected as an ‘Energy Intern’ working at the State Construction Office. I’ll be working on projects related to cutting energy expenses in State owned buildings and structures. I applied to this internship because I am interested in energy efficiencies and practical applications of thermodynamics. Through this experience I hope to learn what it is like as an engineer working in the public sector, and the duties and responsibilities that come with doing so. Hopefully I can apply what I’ve learned to my future job, and use this experience to boost myself into the real working world. I’ve only been an intern here for two days, and already I’ve learned a lot. It’s good to see all the green implementations the state of North Carolina has planned. It will be interesting to follow through and see how these plans work out over the course of my internship.”
Katherine Ely, graduate in public history
“I’m interning this summer at the North Carolina Museum of History and will be there for roughly 10 weeks (through the end of July). I’ll be an assistant instructor for five of these weeks of camp, working with grades K-5 and camp curriculum that ranges from North Carolina maritime history, to transportation history, to pirates and lighthouses. I will also be creating new summer camp curriculum for the museum to implement in the future. For this process I’ll be completing research on a given topic of North Carolina history, assessing how best to organize this information and present it to children, and determining what sorts of activities will be fun, appropriate, and affordable to include in the camp curriculum.”
“I applied for this internship at the NC Museum of History because when I graduate from NC State’s Public History graduate program I intend to pursue a career in museum education. I am passionate about getting young people excited about history, and from past experience have found that these interactive summer camp experiences–in non-classroom settings where students actively engage and interact with history–are wonderful tools for encouraging an interest in and appreciation for history. This internship at the NCMoH will provide me with practical, hands-on and fun experience and knowledge in my chosen career field. Through this internship I’m getting a chance to learn more about the behind-the-scenes workings of a large history museum, am meeting and learning from lots of wonderful individuals in the museum profession, and am gaining further practical experience working in a history museum.”
Munir Muhammad, senior in mechanical engineering
“I’m interning at the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources for 10 weeks this summer. I have one main project for the summer, and some side projects to work on. My main project is to figure out which water treatment facilities in the state are not complying with government regulations. To do this, I’m going to be writing a program that will go through all the data that they report to find any large discrepancies between what goes in and what they claim comes out. I applied and accepted the internship to gain experience related to chemical engineering, and to have something to do and earn money over the summer. I hope to learn what it’s like to have a full time “engineering” job.”
Peter Bahntge, senior in biological sciences
“I’m interning as curator assistant at the living conservatory at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. I’ve only been here for three days, so I’m still learning the ropes, but so far I’ve had to care for tarantulas, sloths, turtles, and butterflies. I also have to maintain plants and other organisms in the conservatory. Currently we’re labeling butterflies as part of a longevity study to see how long the butterflies last in the conservatory. It’s only been three days, and I’ve already had amazing experiences learning new fields. I originally wanted to focus only on plants, but now I’m looking into animals and also plant species I’ve never been exposed to. The number one thing, like any job, is experience. You can read all the books written on any subject, but if you don’t have the experience, it doesn’t count for anything—so take advantage of these opportunities.”
Sarah Coooper, senior in biological sciences
“My internship is a 10 week internship at Fort Fisher State Recreation Area on the coast of North Carolina near Wilmington. I’m doing sea turtle management and education. I applied to this internship because after working at an NC Aquarium for a summer, I fell in love with sea turtles, education, and just the general atmosphere you find on the coast. I was surprised to be offered this internship since I don’t have any experience in the field but I accepted right away because I’ve always wanted to learn more about the coastal environment. A typical day looks like this:
In the mornings I search the park for turtle crawls. If I find one, I dig up the nest and extract one to collect for a research project that has been going on for a few years. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission’s Sea Turtle Project is participating with Georgia and South Carolina in a multi-state project to answer some basic questions about loggerhead sea turtle nesting biology. After extracting one egg, I recover the nest, put a metal cage over it to protect it from foxes, and mark it off so the public will know it is a nest area. Upon returning I enter all turtle data into the system on seaturtle.org. In the afternoons, I present sea turtle programs to the public to inform them about sea turtle nesting, activity, and protection in North Carolina. I hope that this summer I can team up with some of the turtle interns at Bald Head Island to patrol the beaches at night to see a female nest and also to record physical measurements and help with tagging.”
The following students did not respond to our inquiries: Akhilesh Khopkar, graduate in natural resources, Alicia Raimondi, graduate in natural resources, Jessica Jones, senior in aerospace engineering, Jason Brown, senior in mechanical engineering, and John Diaz, graduate in natural resources.
