Intern At Owens Corning

Latifat Owe

Senior, Supply Chain

I spent my summer interning with Owens Corning at their world headquarters in Toledo. After orientation I was able to meet my team and find out my project for the summer. I worked on the Insulation Systems Business Raw Materials Procurement Team. My team acquires all the material inputs required to make insulation. On my first day my manager told me “the plants are our customers.” This frame of thinking shaped my entire summer.

My manager went on to explain my project and I found that I would be in direct contact with both suppliers and customers (plants). When I found this out I was completely excited to be able to have the opportunity to interact with both sides of the table as an intern.

Overall my internship at Owens Corning gave me perspective on my future career as well as a look inside a Fortune 500 company. Throughout the journey I got some perspective on myself as a person and what I bring to the table. I will miss my time at OC, but mostly I will miss the people.

Counselor at YMCA Camp Campbell Gard

Candice Cotton

Junior, Special Education

This is the second summer I have spent at YMCA Camp Campbell Gard in Hamilton, Ohio, as an Intervention Specialist Counselor. I found out about this incredible facility my second year at BGSU and have dedicated my past two summers to changing the lives of children through camp. As an Intervention Specialist major, I have found my passion helping children and being an advocate for others who may not get the support that they deserve.

I have worked with a number of children with and without exceptionalities. Each child in my cabin changed my outlook on my profession, and these opportunities boosted my confidence in my ability to master challenges that may be discouraging at first.

I encourage everyone, no matter their interest, to find experiences that push and motivate them. This is an experience that I will hold close to my heart and will never forget.

Intern with “The Book of Mormon” touring company

Eric Batts

Theatre and Film

This past May, I was given the opportunity to go behind the scenes on the Latter Day tour of “The Book of Mormon” as a stage management intern. This was easily one of the greatest experiences of my life. Not only did I get to meet a lot of great people and make quite a few friends in the professional world, this internship basically solidified my ideas for a post-graduate career. Seeing other people doing the things I love and seeing them loving it too made me want to push myself even farther to one day become a great stage manager.

It was so great to see what everyone was doing while the actors perform on stage. As a stage manager, it's so important to make sure you know at least the basics of every single position backstage as well as on stage. I also had to make sure that I was aware of where I was at all times backstage, so I didn't get run over! It’s almost like clockwork the way everyone moves backstage to get where they need to be at exactly the right time. That, in itself, was nothing short of pure professionalism and focus on the task at hand.

The experience as a whole was nothing short of a dream. I really want to thank Shaun Moorman and Kevin Beebee, two alumni of BGSU, for offering me this opportunity and giving me a chance to take a closer look at the touring life. It was an experience I will never forget. Everything I learned while I was out there will definitely come back with me for the shows I will be stage managing during my last year here at BGSU; and hopefully in my professional career!.

Intern at the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Corey Krupa

Print Journalism

My internship experience with the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, was amazing. I interned in the brand-new Ralph Wilson Jr. Research and Preservation Center. My official title was Football Information Intern and I essentially helped with the communications aspect at the Hall of Fame.

Throughout my two-month internship I met quite a few Hall of Famers or “Gold Jackets” as they are called. I met one of my favorite Hall of Famers, Dan Hampton, who was a member of the 1985 Chicago Bears Super Bowl Championship team. All of the “Gold Jackets” that I got a chance to meet were genuine guys and had many interesting stories to tell. In June, all 256 of the NFL’s drafted rookies from the 2014 class visited the Hall of Fame. I helped out with the tours and got to see rookies like Johnny Manziel, Jadeveon Clowney and Blake Bortles in person.

My major is print journalism and my minor is sports management/ethnic studies, so this opportunity was perfect for me. Everyone that works and volunteers at the Hall of Fame is very welcoming and friendly. I loved interning there and it definitely did not feel like work.

Intern for "Pawn Stars"

Morgan Ward

Senior, Telecommunications

My summer was spent as an intern on the TV show "Pawn Stars." This meant going to live in Las Vegas for two months, be away from everyone I knew and work on the show.

At first it was really intimidating. Everyone on the crew had been there for such a long time and were all very close friends. I also had never worked on such an intense show before, which was a little overwhelming. But after a couple weeks I caught on, and everyone there was super helpful.

My director, Shannon Biggs, was such a great help, almost like a second mom or an older sister. She taught me how to be a strong woman in television and to focus on things better. There are not many women working in TV, but I was lucky- on my crew three out of the 10 people were women, and all of them were willing to teach anything and everything I ever wanted to know.

Because of my time on "Pawn Stars" I feel like I am very prepared to enter the entertainment field when I gradate from BGSU in December. I honestly can't believe I got on the show and had the honor of working with such an amazing cast and crew.

Interned at the NASA Glenn Research Center

Tom Welch

Senior, Computer Science

It has been a passion, goal and dream of mine to work for NASA since I was very young. My experiences with BGSU have helped to make this dream a reality. At Glenn Research Center I was a software engineering intern under the Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) summer internship program. This program handles all of NASA's space communication activities from satellites in deep space to the ground stations on Earth.

During my internship I gained an understanding of Satellite Communication, attended Liferay Developer training, participated in focus groups for user experience design, researched and developed SysML workflow diagrams, participated in implementation, and gave several technical symposium presentations and demonstrations. Not only did I get to meet a lot of brilliant and inspiring people, but everywhere you turn is something remarkable. Directly outside my office was a Gemini capsule and I was able to hop in a Mercury capsule, both from before the Apollo missions.

Working at NASA Glenn this past summer has not only developed me professionally, but I have learned more about myself as a person and what I want to do with my career. Aeronautics and space is an exciting and difficult field, but it is something I am determined and prepared to strive towards. I have made many contacts and made some lifelong friends with my fellow interns. I hope everyone has the chance to experience working in a career they are passionate about and be as excited as I was to go to work every day.

Co-Op Experience at the Grand Ole Opry

Hayley Milne

Senior, Marketing

Hayley Milne rubbed elbows with some of the most notable country music stars during a co-op that was a dream come true. When she arrived in May, her first responsibilities involved preparing for the Country Music Association Festival, which attracts more than 300,000 people each year.

It was a whirlwind few weeks in preparation of the event and working at the fest. “I did everything but sleep,” she joked, from signage and publicity materials for the Opry events to filling 15,000 backpacks that were part of a fun promotion for the festival.

She had a hand in the Guitars of the Stars Auction, designing guitars for The Band Perry and Lauren Alaina to autograph for the Opry Trust Fund benefit. The Alaina guitar sold for $2,100, she reported proudly. Milne also created a personalized poster to commemorate Patty Loveless’ 25th anniversary with the Opry, designed lineup posters for many of the Opry shows and produced and scheduled 13 billboards throughout Nashville.

This summer’s experience “was personal for me,” Milne said. “I am career focused, and I am now on a path to doing something I am passionate about.”

Job-shadowing at Hendrick Motorsports

Alex Wehri

While job-shadowing at Hendrick, I talked with head strength coach Mark Morrison. He talked about his career path and how he got started at HMS, and I then talked about my time at Bowling Green State University and my experience working for the football team. It was after this conversation that coach Morrison offered me an internship and I knew I wanted to learn from him. This past May, after two years of waiting, I moved to North Carolina to start working for coach Morrison as a part of the Hendrick Motorsports strength and conditioning staff.

Interning at Hendrick Motorsports was an amazing opportunity. Working with pit crew athletes is not something most strength coaches get to experience. Working with them compared to working with football players is a whole different ballgame.

My career in strength and conditioning is just beginning and I can’t wait to see what the future might hold. My advice to anyone working toward their dreams is not to limit yourself to just the things you think you can accomplish. You never know what doors might open and what type of impact your time at BGSU might have when you are willing to take chances. Keep working hard! It will pay off!