Outstanding Off-Campus Internship Contest - Fall 2012 Winners

1st Place
Janice Tsang
Senior in Bachelor of Science in Business Management; Specialization in Accounting
Minor in Information Systems

First-place ($250) winner Janice Tsang was a Financial Reporting and Analysis Intern at Duke Energy Corporation. Duke Energy is the largest electric power holding company in the United States, supplying and delivering energy to approximately 7 million U.S. customers. Janice relocated to Charlotte, NC and spent her summer preparing SEC reports and providing expenditure reports for Duke Energy’s controller and CFO.

Duke Energy was a positive experience, for Janice, where she indulged in a new culture and lifestyle in the South. This was her first experience working at a Fortune 250 company involving her career goals in accounting. She recalls learning by participating in “training for the new XBRL tagging program for SEC filings, and learning Oracle and HFM while there.” Janice spoke of an accomplishment, in this internship, being “my ability to be a part of putting together the 10-Q for the 3rd quarter.” She stated, “Being able to see the work I have done throughout the summer come into play was definitely an eye-opener for me.”

Janice’s supervisors at Duke Energy referred her to recruiters at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the business major begins a full-time position with a Big 4 public accounting firm in July 2013. Her references praised Janice as a “detail oriented, focused” worker who “asked good questions and had a positive attitude.” Janice’s work ethic ensured the “Corporate Reporting team met the second quarter reporting deadline and improved the quality of the report filed; (she) has an energy and enthusiasm that is unmatched by her peers.”

2nd Place
Elaina Anderson
Senior in Bachelor of Engineering in Engineering Science
Minor in Business Management

Elaina was an intern at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington. She worked in the Radiation Detection and Nuclear Science (RDNS) group. She received our second-place award of $150.

While interning at PNNL, Elaina joined a team of researchers analyzing nuclear waste. “Working with a number of physicists, I learned the fundamentals of nuclear science and was granted access to state-of-the-art radiation detectors,” she wrote. Elaina recalled contributing by “taking part in an experiment where the radiation from nuclear fuel was measured; this work was detailed in a technical paper that I completed before the end of my internship. Additionally, part of my work over the summer will be published in a technical paper authored by my supervisor.”

Elaina impressed the scientists at PNNL through her work ethic and passion for the daily activities of the radiation detection group. One reference recalls, “Not only will the elements of her work …be used within at least two publications, but her enthusiasm also influenced my mentoring desires. Elaina is a very enthusiastic student, wanting to learn both the practicum and underlying purpose of new experiences.”

The U.S. Department of Energy and its Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) funded Elaina’s internship.

3rd Place
Misha Mehta
Senior in Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

Misha was an editorial intern for the Art and Science of Somatic Praxis, a journal of the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy. She worked under the supervision of Dr. Jacqueline A. Carleton, the founding editor of Somatic Praxis. Misha wrote book reviews, contacted publishers , and composed literature reviews. Body psychotherapy is a science, as well as an art, having developed over the last seventy-five years from the results of research in biology, anthropology, proxemics, ethology, neurophysiology, developmental psychology, neonatology, perinatal studies, and many more disciplines. Misha earned the third prize of $100.

Misha states, “This internship allowed me to explore a side of psychology research that I hadn't experienced before: conducting library searches, reading published research, and writing a literature review. It helped me identify which field within psychology I enjoy and provided me with an idea of what real researchers do in the beginning stages of their research.” Misha spoke of a number of accomplishments, such as, “I wrote a literature review outlining all the research that has been conducted to date on the relationship between Histrionic Personality Disorder and Attachment Styles.”

Her supervisor put Misha in the top five percent of students interning with the publication. Misha developed spreadsheets to make the editorial process more efficient. Her attention to detail, ability to go above and beyond, and her “cheerful attitude and ability to take on challenges was impressive.”

Honorable Mention

James Farrell, Bachelor of Science in Geology Dec. 2012
United States Geological Survey, Student Volunteer

Sara Finneran, Bachelor of Science in Business Management; concentration in Marketing; Minor in Art History Dec. 2012
M. Williamson & Associates, Marketing Associate/Web Designer

Jose Hernandez, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science; Minor and History and Writing May 2014
The Voting Section in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, Intern

Spring 2012 Winners
Fall 2011 Winners

Special Thanks to the Alumni Association.