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“Internships and professional opportunities have helped them translate classroom learning into real-world skills for future careers,” said Pitt State Internship and Career Readiness Coordinator Melissa Weed.
Across a range of disciplines, students have worked alongside industry professionals, solved problems, conducted research, and served communities.
Several students in the Health, Human Performance, and Recreation Department have gained experience through internships focused on health, wellness, and community engagement.
Kaitlyn Draper (Pittsburg) interned at the Therapeutic Recreation Outdoor Camp at Bradford Woods through Indiana University. There, she has worked with individuals from a variety of disability groups, using outdoor adventure activities as therapeutic tools.
Kinleigh Hall (Fayetteville, Arkansas) has worked in an inpatient hospital setting in Kansas City alongside a recreation therapist. She has served patients recovering from spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, amputations, strokes, and other physical disabilities.
At the community level, Hallacy Miller (Mulvane) has interned with the Maize Recreation Commission in Maize,, where she has helped lead youth camps, supported community theater productions, assisted with senior programming, and contributed to other initiatives aimed at improving quality of life for residents.
Two Business majors completed the university’s first-ever Professional Sales & Marketing Micro-Internship this summer.
Averey Terry (Webb City, Missouri) and Jentry Heath (Salina), both enrolled in the Professional Sales & Sales Management Certificate program, participated in the opportunity through a partnership with Backyard Discovery.
Working directly with the company's sales team, the students developed practical experience in customer relationship management, lead tracking, prospect research, cold calling, and sales outreach. The internship also provided valuable insight into how sales and marketing functions work together to drive business growth.
As an intern with the university’s software development team, Computer Science major Zach Waggoner (El Dorado Springs, Missouri) researched a new technology that will enhance the integration of the new student information system and Canvas.
“This project has provided me with a multitude of experience in full stack web development with coding languages,” he said. “I also gained experience with build and deployment pipelines that allowed me to publish, deploy, and run code automatically from the cloud. Ultimately, I have expanded my knowledge as a software developer and learned new perspectives when making critical decisions.”
Education major Ella Ross (Belleville, Illinois) participated in the Memphis Teacher Residency Literacy Fellowship in Tennessee, working alongside experienced educators, teaching in elementary classrooms, and learning how high-quality literacy instruction can create lasting opportunities for students.
“The fellowship strengthened my passion for educational equity and reinforced my commitment to ensuring every child has the support they need to become a confident reader,” she said.
Business major Ashleigh Hartley (Quapaw, Oklahoma) has worked as an intern at Born to Blossom Behavioral Therapy, a Baxter Springs-based, clinician-owned provider that serves children and families across Southeast Kansas, Northeast Oklahoma, and Southwest Missouri.
The business, founded by Pitt State alumni, has allowed her to learn healthcare operations, organizational systems, and process improvement while gaining firsthand experience in specialty behavioral healthcare in a rural area.
Joshua Smith (Pittsburg), a Geography major with an Urban Development emphasis, has spent his summer interning with the City of Pittsburg, where he has implemented, updated, and verified public works and utilities assets within Pittsburg’s geographical information system.
“I have gained an understanding of how the visualization of assets like waterlines and zoning boundaries can have an impact on a community's operations and growth initiatives,” Smith said, “as well as making the connection of classroom work into real life scenarios that make a difference. This internship has prepared me for the future by helping me to determine that this is absolutely the career for me.”
Bree Maxwell (Frontenac), a Graphics major, has worked for the new owners of Mountain Melodies to rebrand the company. The experience taught her about communicating with supervisors, expressing ideas, and setting goals.
“It has also reminded me of how much I'm passionate about my chosen major,” she said.
Biology major Rylan Mason (Fort Scott) has spent the summer at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas in Fort Worth, where she has been curating the institute’s bryophyte (moss) collection.
BRIT houses the largest bryophyte collection in Texas. Because the institute currently does not have a bryologist on staff, Mason has been helping assess and organize a significant backlog of specimens requiring review and curation.
Students also are finding opportunities in highly specialized industries.
For Communication major Elise Leek (Joplin, Missouri), the summer workplace is a bit more unconventional. Leek is participating in a summer-at-sea internship with Carnival Cruise Line, providing her with unique professional experience in a global hospitality and communications environment while traveling and working aboard a cruise ship.
Bryon Lopez (Pittsburg) has gained broad sports industry experience with Sunflower State Football Club in Kansas City. His duties have ranged from field maintenance and game broadcasting to coaching support, media relations, and marketing efforts.
Business Management major Eli Denton (Howard) has spent the summer with Textron Aviation managing deliveries and customer relationships and creating and sending out sales orders for customers.
“I wanted to do an internship to learn more about what it was like working within a bigger corporate environment to gain more professional experience,” Denton said. “I am learning how to deal with customers, what goes on within the company through job shadows, experiencing working with other departments and people, how to complete projects and present on them to higher ups, and how to work within a corporate environment.”
