Beyond the Classroom

Learning in the classroom is an essential part of preparing students to work in a professional setting, and internships are an ideal way for those blooming pre-professionals to get hands-on experience and supervision in their field. Each spring, the Career Center hosts a job and internship fair, connecting current Marauders and alumni with potential employers from across the Commonwealth and beyond. With more than 400 students and alumni in attendance and 123 hiring businesses and organizations present at the event, the 2025 fair represented a 10-year record high participation for the University. Read on to find out more about some of MU’s recent students and graduates who count their internships among the most impactful parts of their education. 

Aaron Reese ‘26 

Aaron Reese, a senior construction management major, secured an internship with Allan Myers, a heavy civil construction and paving contractor in Virginia.     

Reese’s role as a field engineer intern included assisting project managers in paving installation. Through his internship, he now has experience working on construction sites, completing paperwork and managing quantity reports.     

Reese credits his time at Millersville with preparing him for the responsibilities of navigating the workforce and meeting the expectations of the construction career field. “A lot of the professors in the engineering program organize their classes so that they translate to the workforce. The professional expectations at Allan Myers are the same as my engineering professors,” Reese says.     

Every summer since high school, Reese has worked at construction companies as a laborer. Along with his father’s encouragement, this sparked Reese’s interest in an internship with Allan Myers. His first encounter with Allan Myers was a chance meeting with a recruiter  in Osborne Hall. Unfortunately, without a resume, he could not apply for any opportunities with the company that day. He turned to the Career Center the next day and was assisted with crafting a resume that he could submit. “If it were not for the Career Center having an internship fair and Allan Myers attending, I probably would never have gotten a second chance to get my job offer,” he explained.     

While he was with Allan Myers, Reese acquired interpersonal and job-specific skills such as dedication, time management, perseverance, problem-solving and using software like Excel.     

Reese advises students currently searching for an internship to make an effort to connect with companies and to network. “Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there,” he says. “You should start searching for an internship the summer before your junior year. Go to the internship fairs. One of the best things that I did was get a LinkedIn profile. Additionally, have a resume before you talk to these companies, because that’s one thing I didn’t do and I had to play catch up, and that’s where the Career Center came in and helped me.”     

Andrew Macbeth ‘25 

Newly minted graduate of Millersville’s integrated studies program, Andrew Macbeth ‘25, made the most of his college experience. 

The integrated studies program at MU provides students with intellectual disabilities access to full-time, inclusive postsecondary education and an integrated residential experience. It was the perfect fit for Macbeth. “I wanted to be independent,” he shares. “I’ve been in special education throughout my whole life because I have autism. I chose the four-year program option. I got to meet incredible people and make new relationships that grew at MU.” 

A Christian who says he’s “passion about his faith,” Macbeth searched for ways to integrate his faith into his experience at MU. “My cousins who attended MU told me about the Christian student organization The Navigators, and I joined a men’s Bible study. I made closer relationships with other students, and I got the chance to help plan a retreat.”  

“As I student, I utilized the Career Center a lot to do things like do mock interviews, create cover letters and refine my resume,” says Macbeth. That prepared him for his next big step: an internship.  

Macbeth completed an information technology internship at Water Street Mission that he says gave him the confidence to build new skills and work in a collaborative workplace setting. “My passion is IT,” he explains. “They had me take baby steps. One of the first things I learned how to do was to image computers with step-by-step, numbered instructions. I was relatively new to IT, but I had great supervisors and coworkers. I definitely highly recommend that anybody interested in working at a shelter try it. It was an eye-opening experience.” 

The extra support from his colleagues, along with the hands-on training, made the learning experience memorable for Macbeth. “What I learned from my experience at Water Street Mission is that supervisors and co-workers can work with me to further my IT knowledge, and I got to learn how to do certain things that I never did before. I loved working with my coworkers. There are nice people out there who don’t judge you for how fast or slow you are at problem-solving.”  

Now, Macbeth is on to new things, including pursuing additional IT credentials, applying for jobs and interviewing and, someday soon, finding a job.  

Maddux Drager ‘27 

Maddux Drager, a second-year chemistry major, secured a competitive internship as a laboratory technician at the alumni-owned Fontana Candle Company in Lancaster.   

Katie Roering, co-owner of Fontana and a Millersville alumna, made it her mission to produce nontoxic candles for scent-sensitive consumers. Drager, sensitive to candle emissions, was drawn to Fontana’s initiative.    

“I was inspired to apply for this internship in part because when I was younger, my twin sister and I did a research project in the fourth grade together about candle combustion rates and won the science fair together,” Drager shared. As a lab technician, he studied candle combustion and emissions, researched blends and experimented with wick types and pouring techniques to improve safety and appearance.     

“My work at Millersville has ensured that I understand analytical chemistry techniques and instrumentation,” Drager explained. “All my coursework so far has helped me understand how the world around me works through a chemistry lens, as well as how I can apply this knowledge to improve aspects around me.”  

“I pushed myself to understand concepts on a deeper level because I felt that Fontana and what the company aims to do not only benefit me but the community around me,” Drager added.    

Drager gained valuable skills at his internship, including proper lab notebook-keeping, summarizing peer-reviewed literature effectively and operating laboratory equipment.   

“I am confident that I can rise to any challenge I may face because Millersville and my opportunities ensured that I have experience and a strong foundation of key concentrations of chemistry that would set me up for success,” Drager says.    

Drager shared that Fontana was the perfect experience because it challenged him while helping him gain confidence in a supportive lab environment. “I took the time to allow myself to blossom into a better student, classmate and assistant, which I cannot thank Fantana enough for,” he added.  

Drager advises students currently searching for internships to connect with professors who may be familiar with opportunities that are not advertised. “Strive to put your best foot forward and take that time to make connections, as it will pay off. Also, don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself, because you are worthy of these opportunities even when you don’t feel like you are. Sometimes, you need a little push to become something great,” he concluded.     

Jacinta Bravo ‘25 

For international student and allied health technology major Jacinto Bravo Mosso, the internship experience was a return to something familiar: serving as a volunteer firefighter. 

Back home in Chile, Bravo was introduced to firefighting at 13 years old by her mother’s then-boyfriend, a volunteer firefighter himself. “He knew I was interested in it, so he invited me to go with him during a training day,” she shares. “It was a trap because he knew I wanted to join. It was such a fun day, and they gave me a uniform to try on.” She was hooked. 

Bravo went on to join her hometown firefighting company and only stopped volunteering when she earned a field hockey scholarship to Millersville University. When the time came for her to find an internship, she joined Blue Rock Fire Rescue, located near campus. “It’s interesting to learn about how firefighting works in other parts of the world,” she shares. “There’s a lot of things the public doesn’t see. We have training once a week, and even if there’s no official training, there’s always someone around who’s willing to teach you something. It’s been interesting to learn from different techniques than the ones I was taught and vice versa. There are different ways to roll hose or stabilize a car. Back home, they taught one way to do that, but here, I’ve learned other ways of doing it.” 

Bravo spends a lot of time at the fire station, stopping by most days after class. “There’s family in the fire station,” she explains. “You have to trust them, literally, with your life. You basically live with them–you share meals, you go on calls at 3 a.m., you spend a lot of time together.”  

What makes her want to continue her service as a volunteer firefighter? “It’s a way of giving back to this community I’ve been living in the past four years,” shares Bravo. “I am really grateful to be able to have this experience. It’s like having a little piece of Chile with me all the time.”