Gardner-Webb Students Participate in Internships all Over the World

Virtual Road Trips Spotlight Interns in Various Learning Opportunities 

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.—This summer, several Gardner-Webb University students are working internships all over the world—from South Africa to Shelby, N.C. To give the campus community an idea of the various places students are serving, Micah Martin, director, and Shea Mattingly, associate director, from the GWU Center for Personal and Professional Development have featured them in virtual road trips. These interviews are published once a week on the Center’s Instagram page.

Martin said internships are academic experiences that help students apply and practice what they have learned. “The internship search process requires them to develop not only their job search skills, but their networking skills, interviewing skills and have a strong resume and LinkedIn profile,” he said. “When we do this well, students have no trouble finding jobs upon graduation.”

He added that many students find internships through “talent pipelines” the Center has developed over the years with companies and organizations. “As one student leaves an internship, their faculty help scout out students to fill these spots,” he explained. “Ultimately, employers decide on who they want to hire, but faculty play a key role in making sure students are equipped for these roles and a good fit for specific positions. Many of these internships lead to full-time positions upon graduation.”

In celebration of National Intern Day (July 29), here’s a look at a few of  the students who have been featured:

• Amanda Truver—Wildlife Ecological Investments, Kruger Game Reserve, South Africa. Truver hopes to pursue a career in wildlife biology, and the internship will help her stand out in the field. She is helping the Game Reserve keep track of the populations by identifying the animals and birds living there.
• Marissa DiMatteo—CTS Health in Hickory, N.C. A sophomore biomed major, DiMatteo is working with the nurse practitioner. CTS Health does therapy and medication management for children. DiMatteo takes patients’ vitals before they see the nurse practitioner.
• Sophia Smith and Victoria Rivera—Cleveland Physical Therapy Associates, Shelby, N.C. In the beginning, they observed what the therapists did. In the second half of the internship, they did more hands-on, taking patients through the exercises and providing ice packs and heat packs. The internship has helped them decide what career path to take in the future. Smith is interested in become a physical therapist and will be applying to graduate school; Rivera is looking more into the field of prosthetics.

• Luke Beamer—Charlotte (N.C.) Eagles, a missionary soccer ministry sharing the gospel with club and semi-pro soccer teams in the summer. Beamer, a recent graduate, is an athletic training intern. Before practice, he tapes ankles, preps injuries and gets the athletes through stretching programs.
• Louise Schmidgten—working remotely from South Africa for Charlotte software engineering firm, Passport Labs Inc. She has learned the company’s system and worked on programming development.
• Caitie Mayo—Architect Sports Performance and Physical Therapy in Ballentyne, N.C. She works one-on-one with athletes leading them through warmups and drills.
• Haley Searcy—Cohesion Phenomics in Spindale, N.C. Searcy has learned how to use lab equipment to help isolate, sequence and analyze DNA.    

Located in the North Carolina foothills, Gardner-Webb University is a private, Christian, liberal arts university. Gardner-Webb emphasizes a strong student-centered experience and rigorous academics to prepare students to become effective leaders within the global community. Ignite your future at Gardner-Webb.edu.