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The Center for Career Development—Internships and Experiences

 

     One of the great resources we have on campus is the Center for Career Development which is a great place to explore future career paths. The center features valuable workshops, caring advisors and connections to helpful alumni. In my first year, I started by working on my resumé and connecting with an advisor. The resumé workshop was a great place for me to start so I could use that resumé to apply for internships and future jobs. I also was appointed an advisor based on my interests and placed in the Health Professions and Life Sciences Career Community. Within my first semester, I was getting involved in the Career Center and making myself a competitive job applicant.

         A unique opportunity Holy Cross offers is the Alumni Job Shadowing Program. This program runs during fall break, winter break, and spring break. Within this program, Holy Cross students apply to shadow an alumnus in a field that they are interested in. The Career Center matches students based on their career pursuits and location. I was matched with a physician that I was able to shadow for a day, which allowed me to meet his patients, watch his interactions and see how the healthcare field works in a private practice. For me, it was helpful to watch the fast-moving day as well as ask questions to the Holy Cross graduate. Not only did I make an amazing connection with an alumnus, but he also connected me to a few other Holy Cross graduates who also were willing to answer any questions I had. After only one full semester at Holy Cross, I had already found the value in using The Center for Career Development.

         During the academic year, The Center for Career Development also hosts networking events on campus. They invite alumni from various fields and graduation years to come back to campus to meet with students to talk about their career paths and provide advice. These were always helpful events to hear questions answered by the panelists, while also giving students the opportunity to network after the panel session. I enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with alumni and learning more about where they work and how their journey has progressed. Our online program, Handshake, allows students to look for jobs and internships, as well as communicate with the Holy Cross Center for Career Development advisors.

         During my junior year, I knew I wanted to secure an internship for the following summer. The search for this internship started early and was aided by the help of the Center for Career Development. Finding the perfect internship would give me the proper experience to grow and improve my skills. In the fall of my junior year, I applied for the Crusader Internship Fund. This is a wonderful opportunity for rising juniors and seniors at Holy Cross to receive funding for unpaid internships. The Crusader Internship Fund is supported by alumni and generous parents to help students gain experience and connections through summer internships. I applied for the Crusader Internship Fund before I even found my internship. In April of my junior year, through the help of a former Holy Cross graduate, I accepted an internship at Sargent Rehabilitation Center in Warwick, Rhode Island. Sargent Rehabilitation Center helps children ages 3-to-21 years old who are struggling with severe learning disabilities often related to neurological impairment, such as autism and seizure disorders. I loved going into my internship each day and gaining new work experiences. Through my internship, I realized my desire to work with children in a healthcare setting. I am thankful to the Center for Career Development and our connection with wonderful alumni for helping to set up my internship and teaching me something new every day.

 

Meaghan Murray ’20

 

My name is Meaghan Murray and I am from Narragansett, Rhode Island. I am a senior biology major and environmental studies minor. On campus, I am involved in admissions as a senior interviewer and campus tour guide. In addition, I am also part of the campus liturgical ministry and I work at the Luth Athletic Complex. I am interested in pursuing a career in healthcare, either nursing or occupational therapy. Over my years at Holy Cross, I found healthcare to be my interest in career choice through internships, shadowing and conversations with alumni.

 

 
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Sader Summer Scoop: Efrain Lozano ’19

 

 

 

Name: Efrain Lozano

Major/Minor/Concentration: Spanish and International Studies double major

Graduation Year: 2019

What are you doing this summer?: Internship

 

 

 

 

What exactly are you doing?: I am the Original Content/Features Intern at the National Football League (NFL) in Culver City, CA. Basically I help create original stories from players, teams, etc. In which the fans could relate to and somehow connect with our organization. I do research packets on each story I’m out in charge of and from there gather and compile footage that is sent to the producers and editors to cut it and put it together. I also get to sit through the edits of the stories I help put together, and sometimes even be present for the shoots.

How did you hear about this opportunity?: My own research as well through Crusader Connections.

What are you most excited about doing within this program?: I’m excited to be able to get the first hand experience of the ins and outs of the NFL. Having the opportunity to have that hand on experience with one of the biggest organizations in the world is great. In addition, having the opportunity to meet and network with so many important people, as it will prepare me to deal with these important people once I graduate from HC.

What are you hoping to gain from your experience?: I hope that after this experience, I am able to grow both professionally and personally. I think that this opportunity is great in the sense that I am taken very serious as if I were a regular employee. This pushes me to try my best every single day I’m in the office, so I definitely know this is a great start for my future career.

Do you have any advice for prospective students thinking about doing an internship?: Take advantage of every single opportunity you have to network with people from every department. You never know who you will meet at your internship, so always ask questions and be ready to put yourself outside of your comfort zone, that will give you the best experience.

When you were in high school, did you expect to have this opportunity in college?: Definitely not! I never imagined that I was going to work for such organization or even meet NFL players one-on-one.
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Why Holy Cross? We let you write on the walls.

Zachary WielgusIt began as one of those ideas that sound good in your head but don’t quite manifest in real life.

Create a poster that we ask all visiting admitted students to sign to create a visual welcome and introduction to the Holy Cross community. How would we print something that large? How would we get all — or even the majority — of the visiting admitted students to sign? How much of it will be left blank?

Sometimes you get lucky, I guess. It’s been a wonderful point of pride to welcome students who arrive for a campus tour or day visit and, after greeting them with a congratulations and Holy Cross pennant, directing them to “The Wall.” Multiple Holy Cross students corralled the hundreds of admitted students at Accepted Student Open House on April 13 to “sign the wall.” Moms and dads excitedly gaped at just how far some students had come (Boise, Idaho, and Beijing, China, two clear winners), while potential Class of 2018 Crusaders found classmates and neighbors also occupying the same 28-square-feet of wall.

Open House 11

This is what I love about Holy Cross. First, the ability to let small ideas morph into wonderful and meaningful actions. This is also how Montserrat went from optional First Year Program to required (and well-loved) first-year seminar. This is how so many students create their own major or secure an internship never-before pursued.

But second, watching The Wall fill up with the rainbow colors of excited students from literally all over the world paints a brilliant picture of our student body. Holy Cross will introduce you to people who think differently, speak differently, learn differently, and hail from cities and states you have never visited. That’s what college should be: a change from your four years of high school, not only in class offerings and bedrooms but also in the strangers with whom you connect from all corners of the globe.

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Open House 15

 

Sign The Wall. Leave your mark. So many others have.

Zach Wielgus

Assistant Director of Admissions
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An Admissions Intern’s Perspective

Sam Zurn, a current junior, has spent the fall semester completing an internship in the Admissions Office as part of the College’s Academic Internship Program. Now that his internship is complete, he provided us with some thoughts:

 

“So what do students actually do on weekends?” the parents ask, tentatively probing the party-life waters, much to their son or daughter’s dismay. It’s a loaded question, but one Holy Cross students working in admissions are accustomed to answering. Some of the parents ask this with a smirk, leading me to believe that they’re recalling some of their own rowdy college weekends, while others seem to be imagining their child trapped in a scene from Animal House.

As students working in admissions, we have all developed our own approach to answering this, though all rooted in honesty. I typically acknowledge the partying, then stress the alternatives to drinking students engage in that are provided by the school.

Recently, however, when the ole reliable question arises, I find myself thinking more about the open houses, the conferences, the college fairs and the high school visits that have comprised some of my weekends this semester.

This year I’ve been working as an intern in the Office of Admissions and as a result, I’ve got to see some exciting new responsibilities in the world of admissions. Working in admissions after college has always intrigued me. Among other reasons, I enjoy the type of person the job attracts and it’s one that requires the interpersonal skills I’ve continued to refine. So, after reaching out to some of the admissions counselors I had worked with in the past, they were able to create a position for me through the Academic Internship Program in which I was enrolled.

From the front desk, to the mailing room, to interview shadowing, I’ve gotten the inside scoop on the many different components that help our admissions office run smoothly. Even outside the office I’ve gotten to do some pretty cool stuff.

I remember one of my first days I walked into the office to check in with my supervisor, Diane. She goes, “Would you want to co-present our tour guide program at a New England admissions conference? Because I already signed us up…” Talk about starting off with a bang! But I think we made a pretty good team.

Over the past couple months, the entire admissions team has been wonderfully supportive while showing me the ropes, and I guess that’s why it’s always on my mind when I hear parents ask the question. So what do I actually do on the weekends? Well, I encourage prospective students, I explain our Jesuit identity, I brag about our campus, but most importantly, I spread the Purple Pride.
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What Can I do with a Liberal Arts Degree?

NicoleZervos.BLOG2With the economy the way it is right now, you might be concerned about your future. Even though you’re just starting the process of applying to college, you can’t help but think, “Where will I be in four years?” or “What will I be able to do with a liberal arts degree?” As an undergraduate Sociology major, I have to admit, I (as well as my parents) often had the same fears. So what does Holy Cross offer to students to help them make the most of their liberal arts experience? Take a look at the Summer Internship Program.  As a rising junior or senior, you have the opportunity to intern at corporations, non-profits, hospitals, banks, law firms, advertising companies, etc. all over the country. Summer internships are paid; they are often set up by alumni or parents and are frequently designated specifically for Holy Cross students. They are excellent places to connect the writing, analytical, and communication skills that you’ll learn in your liberal arts courses to the “real world.” I did my summer internship at AICUM (Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts), an organization that works with private colleges in the state of Massachusetts. I was a research and policy intern; throughout the course of 3 months, I did research on the use and value of the SAT in the Admissions process and ended up writing a 50 page report. It was partly through this internship that I became interested in working in higher education, and ultimately ended up as an Admissions Counselor.

Don’t see an internship that appeals to you? Not to worry, the Career Planning Office would be more than happy to help you in your search for an internship, summer job, or even career after graduation. They will work with you to help perfect your resume and cover letter. There are also many alumni career panels throughout the year, where alumni come back to Holy Cross to talk about their careers and how they got from Holy Cross to where they are now.  Check out our alumni success stories.

The liberal arts education you receive at Holy Cross won’t prepare you for any one specific career; what it will do is provide you with the foundation and skills you will need to be successful in any field you should choose to pursue.

Nicole Zervos ’09

Admissions Counselor