With the advent of the summer, many students have put away their textbooks and scantrons in exchange for swimsuits and boxed sets of their favorite TV shows. But some UCR students have decided to take advantage of the next few months by passing their time by acquiring extraordinary internships and traveling to exotic locations. Below are some examples of UCR students and their endeavors during summer 2012.

Marty Griffin
Marty Griffin, fourth-year business informatics major, will soon be working for Disney’s corporate location in Burbank.

His internship will span 10 weeks, during which Griffin will be required to create a website for Disney’s risk management department. The website will allow employees at Disney to access protocol information in times of emergencies and will enable them to fill out risk management forms. It will also be utilized on movie sets, at theme parks and even for the Disney cruise. The website will ultimately allow employees to store and keep track of data. He is the only intern who will actively be working on the website. The internship will require Griffin to move to LA for the summer.

Griffin has had experience working in IT and with computers in the past, but this is going to be his first time working for a big corporation and he is excited for the opportunity. Griffin was approached by the company after they saw his LinkedIn account and was told to apply. Griffin offered advice for his peers who are seeking internship positions, “Apply for as many as you can. I applied for a bunch of other ones and this is the only one that I got. It’s really important to follow up after you apply, to make yourself stand out from other people.”

Nikki Tran

Weeks of traveling await fourth-year biochemistry major Nikki Tran. Beginning July, Tran will journey to Vietnam, Thailand and Korea for about two months. The trip was planned after her mother approached her asking if she wanted to go to Las Vegas for her 21st birthday. Tran decided that she would rather spend the summer traveling, because she does not know if there will be time after college if she pursues graduate school.

“The last time I went to Vietnam I was nine or ten,” said Tran, “So I’m excited to see the changes and I’m excited for the food there that they don’t have here.” Tran is going to spend her time in Da Lat and Nha Trang, which are both popular tourist destinations. Nha Trang, a coastal city, will allow Tran to relax on beautiful beaches. Tran said, “Since I am staying so long, there won’t be any time constraints.”

Tran is especially looking forward to Thailand, where she hopes to have new experiences that cannot be found anywhere else, such as visiting the Tiger Temple. The Tiger Temple gives visitors the opportunity to pet tigers, bottle-feed tiger cubs and take photographs  She wants to learn more about the culture in Thailand and said, “I’m definitely going to try to ride an elephant.”

She is going to be stopping in Korea for a day and will take a guided tour. She is looking forward to her travels and stated, “Traveling is always fun because you get to experience a different lifestyle, and whenever you start talking people love the American accent.”

Erin Stanley

Theater major Erin Stanley has been working as an intern at the Riverside Fox Theater for almost a year now, and will be continuing there as a theater foundation assistant for the rest of the summer. The foundation’s goal is to promote performing arts and aid in local cultural services. It is also behind the community outreach programs, such as sending kids from nearby schools to see shows for free as well as family fun days every first Sunday of the month.

Stanley’s job consists of coordinating volunteers for the events, handling office work, or doing tasks specific to upcoming events. She works 3-4 days a week. Stanley’s internship has helped her grow, as she says that it has pushed her to change he procrastinating ways in order coordinate events that are planned very far in advance. Along with helping her manage her time, the internship has also helped her network. She stated, “Networking is a big thing you have to know how to do if you want to become a successful screenwriter, or any kind of profession for that matter, so I am glad to have that skill to help me with my future.”

Stanley was able to secure the internship after perusing through the job listings on the Career Center website. She had been diligent in her searching, stating that she had been continuously searching for a job in the entertainment industry before she came across it.

She has had many wonderful experiences at her internship thus far but notes that one of her favorite memories was when she sat in on a board meeting in the mayor’s office at city hall. During the meeting, the Mayor Ron Loveridge asked her how she felt about an upcoming event, hoping to hear what a UCR student’s perspective would be. She said, “It was really cool to have the mayor of Riverside ask me on behalf of the UCR community how I felt about something, and he really seemed to appreciate my answer. He shook my hand after and told me what a pleasure it was to have me in the meeting, and how nice it was to gain some perspective from students in the area.”