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Lycoming College’s Center for Enhanced Academic Experiences (CEAE) this fall hosted a trip to the nation’s capital to expose selected students to networking events and the inner workings of government agencies as they consider internship opportunities and post-graduate pursuits. The trip included opportunities to engage with Lycoming alumni, as well as stops at a number of government agencies and landmarks.
The CEAE is dedicated to helping students identify and participate in a wide-range of experiences that help them develop intellectually, professionally and personally, including student-faculty research, internships and global travel experiences. This domestic travel experience to Washington, D.C., enabled students to connect with influencers in a number of fields that could help to make their goals of internships and professional work experiences more accessible.
Destinations included the Government Accountability Office (GAO), for presentations by the financial management and assurance team, the international affairs team and the financial markets team. “The accountants discussed the challenges they face, including the difficulty in auditing some government departments, such as the Department of Homeland Security,” said Jacob Afton ’19. Students also engaged with comptroller general Gene Dodaro who described the years of hard work and dedicated service that led to him leading the GAO.
The networking trip was also an opportunity for two of Lycoming’s international students from Mauritius to visit the Embassy of Mauritius. Accompanied by Caroline Payne, Ph.D., associate professor of political science, the group met with the deputy chief of mission, Ah Yao Lam, to converse on exchange programs with the universities located in Mauritius. Bryan Manoo ’20 said, “Mr. Lam responded positively to a future collaboration between Lycoming College and the Mauritius Embassy, and asked us to send him a proposal. We were fortunate to have a phone conversation with the ambassador, S. Phokeer, who also expressed interest in a collaboration with Lycoming College in order to provide hands on experience to the Mauritians studying there.” The visit provided an opportunity for the College to begin building relationships with the Embassy as currently 22 percent of Lycoming’s degree-seeking international students are from Mauritius.
Another stop for several of the students was at the Voto Latino headquarters, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that encourages Latin American citizens to register to vote and to become familiar with their rights as U.S. citizens. Voto Latino also has locations across the country that work to create out-of-the classroom opportunities for students. Evelyn Torres ’19 and Kaitlyn Hipple ’18 met with the head of partnership programs to discuss internship opportunities, and provided an overview of the social climate of campus through a survey of activities and organizations. Torres and Hipple are working to create collaborative campus programming between Lycoming’s newly developed Latin American Student Organization and the Spanish Club, and see the information gained at Voto Latino as an excellent avenue for supporting Lycoming’s Hispanic student body.
The students had time to walk the grounds of the White House before their full group visit at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where they met with Abby Majlak, senior director, PAC & operations, political affairs and federation relations; Kendra Gaither, senior director, policy, Americas, international division; and Caroline Harris, vice president of tax policy and chief tax policy counsel, economic policy. The students received valuable advice for beginning careers in the nation’s capital as these policy experts fielded a number of their questions regarding initiatives supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The trip was sponsored by Jim Hebe ’71, and the CEAE, and was facilitated by Susan Ross, Ph.D., associate provost for experiential learning, director of the CEAE, professor of sociology; Anne Landon, career adviser; and Payne. Ross, Landon and Payne accompanied students on the mid-October trip, including:
• Jacob Afton ’19, economics, German and international studies major
• Anthony Bennett ’20, business administration major
• Diana Cavaliere ’18, business administration-marketing major, corporate communication and computer science minor
• Georgios Charalabidis ’20, managerial economics major, legal studies minor
• Michael A. Dressler Jr. ’19, philosophy major
• Rebecca Forbes ’19, quantitative economics and Spanish major, business administration minor
• Itashna Geerwar ’20, mathematics major
• Kaitlyn Hipple ’18, Spanish major
• Bryan P. Manoo ’20, political science major, philosophy minor
• Elizabeth Nace ’19, criminal justice and psychology major, German minor
• Amy Plocinik ’18, business administration major, accounting and psychology minor
• Jacob Quasius ’18, history major, domestic public policy and political science minor
• Alexandra M. Rozzi ’18, political science major, accounting minor
• Evelyn Torres ’20, accounting major, psychology minor