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Alexandria Garcia, pictured as Bobby Bearcat, interned last fall as a social media intern in the Office of University Marketing and Communication. She won Career Services internship photo contest.

Alexandria Garcia, pictured as Bobby Bearcat, interned last fall as a social media intern in the Office of University Marketing and Communication. She won Career Services internship photo contest.

Jan. 28, 2019

Students show career readiness in photo internship contest

By Grace Niemeyer, communication assistant


For Alexandria Garcia, a social media internship last fall helped her move closer toward her career goals. She also won Northwest Missouri State University’s fall internship contest.

Garcia interned in Northwest’s Office of University Marketing and Communication. While managing the University’s social media accounts, she posted details about upcoming events, trivia and history. She also portrayed Bobby Bearcat and attended various campus events. 

After graduation, she hopes to work in a position with a retailer or an advertising agency.

“This prepared me for a future career by helping me manage my time between the tasks of this internship along with my school schedule,” Garcia, a senior marketing major from Bellevue, Nebraska, said. “Also, I learned how to communicate effectively with my supervisors and build strong relationships with them.”

Northwest students are annually encouraged to submit a photo from their internship experience to share their work and successes. Northwest Career Services coordinates the contest during each term, and it is open to all students participating in internships, practicums, field experiences and directed teaching experiences. Winners receive a $100 Visa gift card. 

“Students should use internships to explore career options and paths,” Travis Kline, a Northwest career development coordinator, said. “Many of our majors offer students a variety of careers and an internship is a chance for a student to test drive a specific area or field.”

Other Northwest students who participated in the contest last fall included Mackenzie Brewer, Hans Leitner and Aubrey Ewing.

Mackenzie Brewer: Angus Media

Brewer, a senior agriculture business major from Wathena, Kansas, interned last fall with Angus Media in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Highlights of her internship included coordinating two advertising projects and preparing for an angus trade show. She also tracked show registrations, insurance and addresses.

“Students should do internships because they help you get out of your comfort zones and figure out what are and aren't your interests,” Brewer said. “The experiences are worth everything.”

Instead of leaving the internship at the end of the semester, Brewer was invited to stay as a part-time employee and continue full-time after she graduates in May.

Mackenzie Brewer

Hans Leitner: American Red Cross

Hans Leitner, a senior emergency disaster management major from Malvern, Iowa, interned last fall with the American Red Cross.

Leitner helped with disaster relief during Hurricane Florence in Richmond and Danville, Virginia, by setting up shelters for volunteers and people affected by the storm. He worked with volunteers in shifts to sign in people, make food and assist clients.

“The best part of my internship was having the opportunity to help people,” Leitner said. “Knowing that myself and other Red Cross volunteers were there to help was a great feeling.”

Hans Leitner

Aubrey Ewing: Clearwater Marine Aquarium

Aubrey Ewing, a senior marine biology major from Overland Park, Kansas, interned last fall at Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Clearwater, Florida. 

Ewing worked primarily with sea turtles by preparing diets, feeding, analyzing interactions with other turtles, training behaviors for eating patterns and participating in medical exams.

“I learned a lot about animal behavior, sea turtle anatomy and the constant process for rehabilitation of animals,” Ewing said. “I also took a lot of time in creating enrichment out of PVC and other turtle-approved materials to create environmental enrichment devices (EEDs). These EEDs allowed new things in the turtles’ habitats to stimulate them physically and mentally.”

Aubrey Ewing

Madison Nolte: Newspaper Practicum

Madison Nolte, a junior multimedia journalism major form Chamois, Missouri, completed her advanced newspaper practicum last fall with the Northwest Missourian.

“There are certain things that working on individual and even group projects in the classroom can’t teach you, and that is extremely true with journalism,” Nolte said. “One of my favorite things about journalism is that you never know where an assignment might lead you, or who you might meet along the way because of it.”

Nolte served as the Missourian's photo editor, which involved attending meetings, budgeting stories and completing photo assignments. She covered high school and collegiate sporting events, wrote photo cutlines and created social media content.

After graduating from Northwest, she hopes to work with an agency that educates and promotes the conservation of natural resources.

Madison Nolte


Contact

Dr. Mark Hornickel
Administration Building
Room 215
660.562.1704
mhorn@nwmissouri.edu