On April 9, 2024, the Student Government Association held an Internship Summit with Johnson City Young Professionals and Career Services from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Around 35 students attended from numerous departments. Hosted by SGA President Trent White, the event included a panel discussion about internship opportunities and networking.  

“We wanted to make sure that the panel was made up of multiple lenses to which to view internships,” said White.  

The panelists for the event were McKenzie Templeton from Johnson City Young Professionals, MMA announcer Cyrus Fees, SGA Senator Matthew Sutphin, SGA Senator Aashi Vora, SGA President-Elect Hunter Turgeon and faculty member Jennifer Adler. They spoke about their internship experiences, advice and stories.  

Adler encouraged students to think outside of the box and “make their own way” for internships. Templeton emphasized the power of networking and the importance of connecting after the initial meeting. After the panelists talked, students were encouraged to connect with each other and the panelists.  

The event’s inspiration was to showcase the numerous internship opportunities for students in the region. “A lot of times students don’t realize how many opportunities there are to intern in our community,” said White.

(Contributed/ETSU SGA)

White shared that students had three main takeaways from the event: the realization of opportunities, the importance of looking for opportunities right now and internships are incredibly important.  

“As a culture we often don’t value internships like we should,” said White. “It’s important to spend your summers doing productive, effective and thoughtful work in an area you’re passionate about.” 

The event is the beginning of an initiative to engage students in success after graduation that White hopes to continue after his term ends at the end of the semester. “My hope is that SGA will take this ignition to start and turn it in to something very powerful,” said White. “It’s one of the most important things we do as a student body.”

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