Seniors seek future careers

East Rockaway High School hosted its annual Senior Seminar on Thursday, May 26, where students in the program displayed their work as interns during the past semester.

Many seniors took advantage of a program offered by the school that allows seniors to intern in a field that they may be interested in for their future careers. Interns were given a half day on Tuesdays and Thursdays to complete two-and-a-half hours per day at their internships of choice.

The Long Island Herald hosted its own intern from the program, Brendan Gillespie. He interned for four months and produced a variety of published stories. He credits the Herald with teaching him how to speak to and interview people — skills that Brendan hopes will aide him in his studies at The University of Buffalo, where he will be majoring in communications starting this fall. Due to his internship at the LI Herald, Brendan said that he plans to pursue journalism as a future career.

Brittany Dantona interned at St. Raymond’s School in East Rockaway, helping with a kindergarten class. “I was very undecided with what I wanted to do with my life,” said Brittany. “After my internship, I changed my major from undecided to early childhood development.” Brittany will be attending Nassau Community College in the fall. She wants to concentrate in special education, a decision she credits to the internship that was an “unforgettable experience.”

Mike Delgais used his internship opportunity to shadow the physical therapists at Peak Performance Physical Therapy. After this opportunity, Mike says that he is undecided in his major when he attends Curry College in Massachusetts with his interests split between declaring an education major and studying to be a physical therapist himself.

Alexandra Cipriano interned with East Rockaway Fire Department’s Rescue Squad. “It was really exciting, I loved it,” she said. She got the hands-on experience of being an EMT, a career path she now plans to follow in her future education. She will be attending Nassau Community College in the fall, and will be earning her EMT certification as soon as possible to join the same rescue squad that she interned with. Her goal is to use the training she receives at the rescue squad and apply it to her dream career of being a sonogram technician.

Christopher Weiss interned with the Todd Kaminsky for State Senate Campaign. He specifically spent his time with outreach to potential voters. He was “the guy who called you on the phone and knocked on your door,” according to Christopher. “It was a really great life lesson in communicating with others, because my generation doesn’t call people on the phone anymore — and we definitely don’t knock on doors.” Christopher plans on declaring a double major when he attends the University of Buffalo in the fall in computer science and business and dreams of one day owning his own business.