Name: Megan Swanson
Year: Senior
Major: Finance
“This summer I worked at Oak Marsh golf course, as a beverage cart girl. It was my first summer there. Greatest experience ever. Basically my job consisted of doing several laps around the course during the day and asking golfers if they need anything to drink, any snacks, keep them hydrated. I earned very good tips, so anybody who is looking for a great summer job, I highly recommend it.”
Name: Melissa Joyce
Year: Senior
Major/Minor: Chemistry/Mathematics
“I did computational chemistry research, so I worked on the computer trying to figure out what is the most stable confirmation of molecules. I work with TIH5+ and was able to take that to the U of M, like most of the chemistry department, and I won first place for their poster presentations. It was the U of M presentation that we do every year, sponsored by MRSCC. Another person inside the chemistry got third, Gregory Crane. It was a fun time!”
Name: Drew Nowak
Year: Senior
Major: Finance and Economics
“This summer I was able to take the first couple weeks off, then on June 15 started an internship at Target, in a business-analyst role. I learned a lot about retail, learned a lot about corporate culture, it was a really good experience. Target is very different than a lot of corporate cultures, it focuses on your involvement in your team, almost more than your individual tasks. Out of 200 interns, Kiera Jacobson won the “Fast, Fun and Friendly” award, so to hear somebody from St. Thomas win a scholarship was pretty cool.”
Name: Isaiah (Ike) Wrobel
Year: Senior
Major: Operations Management
“This summer I was given the privilege of going over to Ireland, and I was able to work there for two months. It was an internship for Boston Scientific, for my major, operations management. After that, I studied in Galway, Ireland as well and I studied Irish Gaelic language. I got back about three-and-a-half weeks ago. The most exciting adventure was probably going to visit one of my buddies in Germany for three days. We went out one night to the club, and another day we went wakeboarding. It was a real different experience. They don’t have boats, instead they have a pulley system that you ride. It was different, but it was a lot of fun.”
Name: Liz Jamison
Year: Junior
Major/Minor: Political Science/Catholic Studies
“I was a summer camp counselor at Camp Birchwood up in northern Minnesota, and for part of the time I led a group of 12-14 year-old-girls to the Boundary Waters, up in northern Minnesota, near Grand Marais. That was an absolute blast, canoeing for five days, and then spending a little bit of time at their boy’s camp up there. It was for 11 weeks, including the staff training week. It was very much an experience where I was learning to do things simultaneously while teaching them.”
Name: Greg Hartung
Year: Senior
Major: Actuarial Science and Statistics
“After finals week last year, I had about a week vacation at home, and then went out to Hartford, Connecticut where I worked at ING in a summer actuarial internship, and in fixed income securities. I got back at the end of July, and went up to the Guntherland Trail in the Boundary Waters for about five days. I had about another week-and-a-half vacation there, then came to St. Thomas for operation managers’ training, starting on [Aug. 18]. Pretty full summer.”
Name: Paul Armstrong
Year: Junior
Major: History, Philosophy and Economics
“Right after school got out I visited my family in the Ukraine, then visited some of my old friends in Poland. I also had a young scholars grant, and worked on some economics research for most of the summer. I took an economics class at the U of M. Then I visited some of my friends in Maryland too, that’s where I moved here from. And I went on a family vacation to Florida, and I worked on my young scholars grant some more.
“For the young scholars grant, I worked on a project analyzing the economic reform recovery, and the possible impact of that using the game theory.”
Name: Annie Hejny
Year: Junior
Major: Elementary Education (English) & Studio Art (at St. Kate’s)
“This summer I was a day camp counselor at Hidden Pines Ranch Day Camp in Stillwater, it was really fun. I also coached lacrosse and waitressed on weekends. So I was really busy every night, but it was a really fun summer.
“At the day camp I was in charge of an area called ‘Explore’ so I worked with mostly the first through third graders during the mornings, and we just did a bunch of random activities, like rock climbing and team-building games. The kids also did horseback riding, canoeing, archery, faith-building and arts and crafts.”
Name: Leah Cole
Year: Senior
Major/Minor: International Business/Spanish
“I spent this summer in Spain, traveling. I studied at a university there through IES, then I went to Madrid and stayed. I wasn’t studying there, just lived there. When I was there I got a paid trip to Paris, and that was nice. I ended up going to Israel at some point, to Jordan and saw Petra. In Spain I enjoyed my time spent with friends and learning Spanish, and the culture.”
Name: Derek Porter
Year: Senior
Major: Education, with concentration in Political Science
“This summer I was in a program called the Institute for Responsible Citizenship. It’s in Washington, D.C. and it’s a two-summer commitment. My internship was at the Washington Jesuit Academy, and I was teaching Algebra and Shakespeare. I also got the chance to meet with politicians, like John Louis and Michael Steele and different people like that. Then you also take a class, and mine was for government and economics. So we sat in with the professor and had that twice a week as well.
“I was there from May 31 to Aug. 1, so that’s the longest time I’ve been out of Minnesota, and the homesickness was challenging. It was good though.”
Name: Jonathan Reiner
Year: Senior
Major: Business Law
“After training for a marathon throughout spring, May 25 I went to Rochester and ran my first marathon; 26.2 grueling miles. Four days later I went skydiving. Jumped out of a plane for the first time ever. I had a big thrill factor this summer for some reason. I also worked at an organization called Minnesota GreenStar, a non-profit that does building certifications for residential buildings for efficiency standards. I studied a lot for the LSAT, and volunteered once a week at an adult education place for people getting their GED’s and high school diplomas.
“Finally, I went to Colorado with my aunt, a motorcycle enthusiast, and set up a booth there selling jackets and chaps to female riders. She calls her apparel Girl Gear.”
Name: Jimmy Feeks
Year: Junior
Major: Physics
“This summer I was doing research in the physics department on South Campus, working on the new observatory that they have on top of the parking ramp. I helped put together the robotic telescope and worked on some of the software to get it up and running so it was automated.
“I did a few side projects, like redesigning a mirror cover so that dust wouldn’t collect on the telescope, and we also designed a transport and mounting system for a secondary telescope, so we can use that for the students and the St. Paul public. I also went to a lot of Twins games this summer.”
Name: Meghan Galloway
Year: Sophomore
Major: Business Communications and French
“This summer I went to Washington, D.C. with a friend, just to see the sights, and it was fun. We saw the monuments and the museums, the White House. We also got a tour of the capital and also went to the national zoo. We went to Annapolis, Maryland, and that was my favorite part. It was cool to visit the small, touristy towns. I worked all summer for Eagan Parks and Recreation, and then I did the book keeping for my dad’s company. I hung out with friends, went to the beach a couple times, and read a lot of books.”
Sally Schreiber can be reached at sfschreiber@stthomas.edu