Furman students honed their skills with summer internships around the world

It was another busy summer for Furman University students who worked as interns. More than half of the 287 students who were awarded summer internship fellowships to receive funding and/or reduced on-campus housing rates stayed in Greenville, contributing to local businesses and organizations, like this Greenville Zoo intern.

But more than 70 Furman internship fellows are returning to campus from jobs they worked around the country and around the world. They all made a Paladin impact, from New York City to Hanoi and Los Angeles to London, and represented a wide range of majors, including biology, business, English, health sciences, math, music and physics.

“High-impact internship experiences are an important component of The Furman Advantage, integrating students’ career interests and academic learning with real-world experience,” said Katie Maxwell, Furman’s internship program director. Seventy-two percent of students complete at least one internship while they’re here.

“Through internships, students apply classroom knowledge to practical situations, deepening their skills and exploring their interests. Internships help students feel more confident in their post-graduation plans and equip them to make significant impacts in their careers and communities,” Maxwell said.

We asked some of our far-flung interns to tell us about their experiences. Their replies (edited for brevity and clarity) follow.

Amelia Smith ’26, right, sings with the Berlin Opera Academy. Photo provided.

Amelia Smith ’26 vocal performance major
Internship: The Berlin Opera
This summer I participated in Berlin Opera Academy’s (BOA) production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)! Through this program I was able to experience what performing an opera in a professional setting looks like.

My goal is to make singing opera my career! Through BOA I was able to learn my role as a bridesmaid in Nozze, as well as complete a character study of Papagena from Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), providing me with international experience as well as two new roles for my resume! I learned a great deal both in and out of rehearsals. Living alone in a foreign country was certainly challenging, but I was able to be fully immersed in German culture – an invaluable experience.

Furman helped me through the entire process. From my voice professor Lisa Barksdale (lecturer in voice) and collaborative pianist Hailey Anthum Hunter helping me record my auditions, to the Internship Office providing me with funding, I would not have been able to do this without Furman’s help!

Vu Nguyen ’26, business major
Internship: Ford Vietnam, Hanoi

Vu Nguyen ’26, a business major, interned at Ford in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo provided.

I just finished my internship at Ford Vietnam in both the PR team and the sales team. At the PR team, I was responsible for writing scripts for the events, being the emcee at an event, translating documents and making plans for a future advertising campaign. At the sales team, I was responsible for taking care of the customers, selling cars (unfortunately, I could not sell any cars, but learned a lot during the process), and calling the customers to ask for feedback.

I wanted to intern at Ford to see how an international firm works, learn how to communicate in the workplace and learn from the predecessors at such a great company. I learned how to make a big event from scratch, work with customers and make a good team.

Many of my skills that I learned at Furman were useful when I had my internship. For example, I did some business analytics to help optimize the advertising strategy, or the statistics course at Furman helped me to understand the numbers given by the marketing team.

Xenia Weislämle ’25, a biology major, interned at New York University Grossman School of Medicine. Photo provided.

Xenia Weislämle ’25, biology major
Internship: New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York

I am interning at in a pathology laboratory in New York City. I am doing research in the role of long non-coding RNA in leukemia here.

This internship gives me the chance to learn cutting-edge techniques at an institution that does pioneering research in biomedical science.

I have learned a lot of biomedical research techniques, especially in working with RNA. I also learned a lot in the more abstract part of science, the deductive reasoning and finding answers, or sometimes the next meaningful follow-up question, to a scientific question.

My time doing immunology research in Dr. Jason Rawling’s (associate professor of biology) lab at Furman has given me the foundation of laboratory skills and experience in research that allowed me to get this internship.

Scottie Bing ’25, public health and Spanish major
Internship: Center for Biomedical Investigation, Granada, Spain

Scotte Bing ’25 interned in Granada, Spain, where she studied public health data and attended science seminars. Photo provided.

My main focus for the summer was studying adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors in the United States using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. I also attended biomedical research seminars and a nutrition conference. I am also a Spanish major, thus I loved living in Spain where I practiced communicating in Spanish and experienced the incredible Spanish culture.

Dr. Carmen Piernas helped me learn to clean and analyze data using the computer program Stata. By the end of my time in Spain I was able to write a report with my data analysis results. Furthermore, I had the opportunity to assist in the preparation of blood for analysis. This was part of a study Dr. Piernas is conducting called CADIMED. This experience gave me insight into the process of conducting a randomized controlled trial.

My professor and advisor, Dr. Meghan Slining (associate professor of health sciences) connected me with Dr. Piernas. Dr. Slining provided me with resources to become familiar with nutritional epidemiology and Stata before arriving in Granada. It was because of Dr. Slining’s advice and support that I was able to have such an incredible experience.

Kelsie Barrineau ’26, middle, interned in musical theater in Claremont, California. Max Moorehead ’27, right, also interned there. Photo by Jeanine Hill.

Kelsie Barrineau ’26, vocal performance major
Internship: SongFest 2024, Pomona College, Claremont, California

I studied and took private lessons under Dr. Grant Knox at SongFest, who is the director of opera and the coordinator of vocal activities at Furman. I also engaged with other national and international musicians, faculty and students in master classes, studio classes and vocal coachings.

I was able to perform in opera and musical theater scenes, and sing in a duet in a Leonard Bernstein concert, curated by none other than his daughter, Jamie Bernstein.

I wanted to attend a collegiate level vocal residency program that focused on art song and solo singing, with the chance to perform with and engage with students and faculty from all over the United States and beyond.

Furman provided funds for me to go to this program. Furman music faculty such as Dr. Bronwen Forbay, Dr. Grant Knox, Dr. Jessica Elliot, and Dr. Vivian Hamilton helped me prepare for SongFest 2024. Furman students who also went to SongFest 2024 helped to foster a sense of community far from home. Thanks to Furman’s music faculty and fellow music students, I was able to attend and feel affirmed in my studies of vocal performance!