For many Syracuse University students, internships are an entryway to an exciting new career. They offer opportunities for students to put classroom skills to the test, learn about their strengths and strike up professional relationships.
Inspiring Passion in Design Work
Architecture major Martha Casey ’27 gives a presentation at ZGF Architects in Portland, Oregon, during her summer internship.
As an intern at ZGF Architects in Portland, Oregon, this summer, School of Architecture student Martha Casey ’27 worked with passionate, creative people who inspired her. “I found an environment where it’s encouraged to be curious, enthusiastic and even geek out about the things you care about,” the architecture major says. “That was incredibly motivating.”
When Casey arrived in Portland for her internship, she discovered the main terminal of the Portland International Airport was designed by ZGF. “There is so much great design coming out of the city, and it has been exciting to be immersed in such an inspiring environment,” she says.
Casey embraced ZGF’s community atmosphere and enjoyed a variety of experiences, including developing a conceptual design for a museum’s interior space. Drawing on an architecture studio course, she researched museum projects the client admired, analyzed their success and adapted ideas. “I created a concept that resonated strongly with the project team,” she says. “It was rewarding to see how a skill I developed in the classroom translated directly to professional practice.”
Casey felt well prepared for the internship, drawing on her Syracuse experiences to communicate effectively and build professional relationships.
“I have gained a deeper appreciation for the impact architecture can have and the level of thought that goes into creating meaningful spaces,” she says. “This opportunity has only strengthened my excitement for pursuing architecture as a career.”
Observing in the Operating Room
Hank Arditti ’29 (right) meets with a physician at FV International Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where he interned this summer. The biotechnology and neuroscience major enjoyed shadowing specialists, watching operations and sitting in on consultations with patients.
One morning at FV International Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Hank Arditti ’29 watched a surgeon perform a knee operation. “He explained to me the makeup of the joint, its function and why this specific patient’s knee was in such poor condition,” says Arditti, a biotechnology and neuroscience major in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Suddenly things I had learned, studied and read about in my SU biology classes had become real and materialized in front of me.”
For Arditti, it was one of many experiences that confirmed his interest in a career in medicine. As a medical intern, he worked with several specialists, shadowing them in the operation room—where he witnessed 35 surgeries—and sitting in on their patient consultations.
Interacting with physicians who’d studied in various countries gave Arditti invaluable insights on their different approaches to medical practice. “Witnessing these varying perspectives on healthcare has given me the opportunity to appreciate a more holistic outlook on medicine and how different cultures view healthcare through their own unique lenses,” he says.
Ensuring Computer System Safety
An interest in cybersecurity led Nateé Okrah ’27 to an internship with Perdue Farms in Salisbury, Maryland, where she gained a wealth of experience helping to ensure the company’s technology remained safe and secure.
This summer, Nateé Okrah ’27 was on the lookout for hackers and cyber threats as a cybersecurity intern at Perdue Farms, a food and agriculture company in Salisbury, Maryland. “A lot of my work involved risk assessments and monitoring phishing campaigns, which keeps things dynamic since no two days look exactly the same,” says Okrah, a triple major in forensic science and psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences and information management and technology with a concentration in cybersecurity studies in the School of Information Studies.
With a career goal of becoming a cybersecurity engineer, Okrah got a firsthand look at the job with a daily mix of meetings, project work and security evaluations. She relied on her ability to manage a busy workload and lessons from Syracuse classes, including a presentation course that taught her to explain complex technical information in understandable terms.
“I like being in a position where I have to think critically and be investigative,” she says. “It keeps me on my toes and constantly gives me opportunities to grow—and that’s exactly what this internship has done for me.”
