What's a Curator? Let Our Intern Show You!

Many people ask what's a museum curator? This fall we had an intern who can now answer that question! Alexis Harris a senior in the internship program chose the career path of becoming a museum curator. She had the privileged to create her very own postcard exhibit at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum located in downtown Wichita, Kansas.

Alexis spent hundreds of hours piecing together this exhibit and it's now on display and open to the public at the museum! Below was when I visited Alexis at the beginning of November and then the last pictures are of her completed exhibit in December.

If you have the chance and never been the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum is very educational and fun to walk through, so don't miss out on the chance to swing by and look at one of our very own interns exhibits!

 
 

Interns in the News

In case you missed it this fall we had two interns who were featured in our local newspaper. Morgan Walther with Good Shepherd Hospice and Gabby Engels with Tall Grass Country Club and The Marriott. Great article! Pictured below is Morgan Walther, starting her day out at Good Shepherd Hospice.

Capping off the Semester with 17 Professional Interns

The end of the semester has now approached and we can successfully say we couldn't have had a more successful 1st year for the Andale High School internship program, and it's all because of these 17 wonderful and professional senior interns! There's no doubt that we were all a little uneasy and nervous at the beginning of the semester considering this was new and we had an idea of what we wanted it to become, but having the unknown sitting there in front of us was a little nerve racking.

I think back to when I told this group of interns that they would have to present for 15 minutes in front of an audience about their internship experience, and I think I got to see as many jaw drops and eye brow raises that a teacher could see in a semester! As the semester continued and everyone got settled into their roles at their internships, a level of professionalism and confidence began to grow inside each and ever one of the 17 interns. I began to see a group that started out in August and took the necessary steps to advance towards their soon approaching future. From resumes to mock interviews with business professionals we were able to create a level of professionalism that many of our mentors and businesses noticed!

I couldn't be more proud of this group as they've challenged themselves above and beyond and went out on a limb to try something new. I wanted to share with you three photos (when they didn't present they were allowed to wear "business ready" and when they presented they were to wear "Business Professional" without me telling you which is which can you figure out what "Business Ready" and "Business Professional" mean in attire terms), one is the first day of school and the second one is our last evening of internship presentations for the public. Not only are they a well dressed group of interns, but they've also gained real world experience that will guide them in their post-secondary future!

Pictured (Left to Right): Christian King, Cole Murray, Gabe Kuhn, Jacob Horsch, Cooper Bradbury, Zach Meyer, Aaron Kerschen, Kalista Mosher, Morgan Walther, Julie Archer, Gabby Engels, Ashley Burks, Chase Bartkoski, Alexis Harris, Kaylee Lies, Bailey Bugner and Myka Dalton.

 Pictured (Left to Right): Jacob Horsch, Cole Murray, Cooper Bradbury, Gabe Kuhn, Christian King, Aaron Kerschen, Zach Meyer, Myka Dalton, Gabby Engels, Julie Archer, Morgan Walther, Chase Bartkoski, Kaylee Lies, Ashley Burks, Bailey Bugner, Alexis Harris and Kalista Mosher.

Pictured (Back-Row, Left to Right): Kaylee Lies, Bailey Bugner, Morgan Walther, Julie Archer, Chase Bartkoski, Aaron Kerschen, Jacob Horsch, Cooper Bradbury, Gabe Kuhn.
(Front-Row, Left to Right): Gabby Engels, Ashley Burks, Myka Dalton, Alexis Harris, Kalista Mosher, Cole Murray, Christian King and Zach Meyer.

If you see these interns out and about make sure to recognize them for their hard work this semester and congratulate them on being the first graduating class of interns from Andale High School.

Go Indians!

-Mrs. Bergkamp

Four AHS Interns Land a Job

December 2nd was a sad day for our interns as they wrapped up their 12 weeks at their internship sites for the fall semester. Our interns found a place where at first was nerve racking as they were experiencing something they never had before, but quickly found a new "home" away from school that introduced them to their future careers they're looking to pursue. I know many interns walked out the doors on the last day sad to see that 12 weeks passed so quickly, and wished they had the same opportunity next semester; yet that's exactly what four interns got! 

We have had four interns who have been offered jobs to stay on at their internship sites and work after school and during the summer, an opportunity that is greatly appreciated and is very rare! These jobs were well deserving and a testament to how hard our interns worked this summer. On a side note, this wouldn't be possible without our mentors and internship sites! They have opened their daily work schedules to accommodate our students and to help them understand of what they're jobs entail giving them hands on experience which all of our interns greatly appreciated. 

In the upcoming months Gabby Engels will be working for Tall Grass Country Club where she interned for event planning. Cole Murray will start working as a Physical Therapy Tech at Advanced Physical Therapy. Jacob Horsch will continue his plumbing career and continue to work for L&B Plumbing. Lastly, but not least Zach Meyer will be working under Baughman Company for Civil Engineering this upcoming summer. 

 

Please congratulate not only these four interns, but all 17 of our interns for a great start to our program as they represented our school district in a very professional manner and I couldn't be more proud of them! 

-Mrs. Bergkamp 

Intern Morgan Walther- Good Shepherd Hospice (Hospice RN)

Hi, my name is Morgan Walther

The first time I wanted to be a Hospice nurse, was when my aunt Brie ,who is one, was telling me all about it. I’ve grown to have such a love for helping others in need. In some way, I feel like it is my calling. That I was “meant” to do it. There is no job in this world that I could think of being besides that.

I chose this career because I love what the people do. I love that the majority of them feel the same way I do about this job, or helping others. To reach this career goal, to my best abilities, to do the best I can and give all I have at times I am sure it will be tough, but I believe to reach it’s the compassion, the effort, and the drive. When being a Hospice nurse, It is critical that you give your all. You can’t give a little, you have to go all in, because these patients need us, they are depending on us to help them through this challenging time.

There is still many things that I am not aware of, and need to learn about in this career field, There is so much more to it than what I have seen, and what others have seen I am sure. But I would truly like to learn about the deep roots of it all, what truly goes on, how much is really done for them, to me, it’s not really about the money, it’s about doing what I love, and that’s what matters to most. I do tend to get nervous when I think about all I will see. I do believe that I am strong enough to handle it. But at times, watching someone in so much pain, nobody can just sit back and watch that and their heart not ache. I am nervous for my connection with the patience, of course that is my goal, to connect and make them feel just as normal and comfortable as they can be. But I don’t want to struggle at my job when I should be working over a patience uneasiness that could lead to death. I want to show them courage and hope, that everything just might be okay.

I worked as a CNA, and that is a huge advantage being able to see all that goes on, being able to physically help someone in need. Because for awhile I was uneasy about certain things, but I just grew to love the patience, I grew to love seeing the smile on their faces as others entered the room. Making someone feel so important, makes me feel like I am doing something right, and I’m  just as important.

I don’t really and haven’t thought much about other plans in mind, if this doesn’t work out or satisfy me the way I hoped for. My biggest thing, is I want to go into a place and make a difference, I want to go in and help others, I want to leave a place and know that I helped someone that day even if it was a little talk to help them get out of bed, or a big thing like helping them walk for the first time in ages. I could easily see myself working in a rehab facility, for addiction. It’s not my main thing I have in mind, but you are making a difference when you walk in there, People all around are in need of help, in need of comfort as their lives change widely over a certain period of time. To me, it is all about how you make certain situations, how you approach them, how you act during them, about them. So everyday, if you walk into it all, knowing that you could make your day that much better for someone in need, then it’s a good day.

Good Shepherd Hospice is where I will be attending my internship, Good Shepherd is not just a facility center, it is a form of care that addresses medical, emotional, and spiritual needs of terminally ill patients and their families.  Good Shepherd opened its first office in 1995. At Good Shepherd hospice, a motto they confide in and have, is “ We are givers, not takers, we are listeners, not talkers, we are promoters of others, not ourselves.” At Good Shepherd, we reach our goals. The average pay for a hospice nurse is $29-$32 dollars hourly.  Which estimates to about $48k-$52k a year. A registered nurse is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Services at hospice include: Home Health Aide Assistance

• Bereavement
• Pharmacy
• Childlife
• Medical Care & Pain Management
• Dietary Consultation
• Medical Supplies, Equipment & Respiratory Services
• Nursing Services
• Pastoral Care
• Child Life Program
• Physical, Occupational, Speech & Respiratory Therapy
• Social Work

I am extremely excited to begin this new journey in my life, I can’t wait to see what all the opportunities bring me.

Intern Cole Murray- Advanced Physical Therapy

Hi, my name is Cole Murray, and I’m a senior at Andale High School. I was born in Hays, Kansas, and moved to the Andale area around the age of ten. My family consists of my mother, father and sister who is three grades below me. I am a very active member in my community, participating in several clubs and sports including cross country, track and field, Student Council, National Honors Society, and CYO. I will be interning this fall semester at Advanced Physical Therapy in West Wichita, and I will also be making several visits to a P.A. office during the course of this semester. My dreams have wavered over the years from being a teacher to a entrepreneur to a writer and so on. But in the last year, I have found, through the help of many science courses, that the healthcare field is the one I have settled onto. I’m so intrigued as to how the human body works and how we as humans are able to repair it from sickness and injury. I have not yet decided what specific career fits me best yet, so this internship will help me decide if physical therapy or physician’s assistant is the route I will choose.

Physical therapists and physician’s assistants both require schooling after high school. Physical therapists are required to receive both a Bachelor’s degree and a DPT. A DPT is a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree which will take about three years in order to earn. A P.A. will have a similar education path: a bachelor’s degree and a two-year P.A. program. I am planning on earning my Bachelor’s degree at Kansas State University and going to Wichita State for their P.A. program. These programs will not be easy, and I understand this. Ever since I can remember, I knew that I would do whatever it takes to make sure I have a successful career in what I decide to do. Perseverance and determination are two words I would use to describe myself. My actions in high school have shown this I am able to participate in many school activities while holding a job on the weekends and maintaining a 4.0 GPA. I will continue this showing of hard work in order to achieve my end goal and further still throughout my career.

While interning at Advanced Physical Therapy, I would like to observe the work environment of a physical therapist, what starting salary I should expect, and how the job grows and changes as time goes by. Being able to see first hand the working environment will be one of the deciding factors of figuring out what career I choose. The work environment is important to me because this is the career I would choose until I retire. Salary isn’t as important to me, but I would like to be able to provide for myself and my future family. Being able to travel and see the world is important to me, and I would like my family to have those experiences. Technology does not stand still; it evolves, and as it evolves, physical therapists will need to be able to adapt. I would like to see how physical therapy has changed over the past twenty years and new ways it is changing. Being able to see the progress the medicinal and technological fields have made will open my eyes to what I am getting into.

The only part of this internship that scares me is the fact that I really don’t know what I am getting myself into. I know what I should expect, but until I am actually in that office, I do not know how this experience will go. Getting along with the coworkers there will not be a problem for me. I work in customer service at a local wildlife park  and am able to connect with people easily. Being able to start and hold conversations with ease will not only help me with coworkers but with patients as well and provide them with a positive experience on the path of healing. I learn with ease and will be a dependable worker. I have been trained in several different positions at my current workplace. This shows how I am able to pick up new skills fast and that I am someone our managing team can rely on.

Advanced Physical Therapy has many different locations throughout the Wichita area, including their West Wichita location near Bishop Carroll High School where I will be interning. They deal with injuries ranging from aches and pains to those that require surgery. Advanced Physical Therapy is also a member of PAK (Physician Alliance of Kansas) whose main goal is to provide quality health care that is cost effective.

Intern Kalista Mosher- Speech Swallowing and Voice Center (Speech Pathologist)

Hi my name is Kalista. The first time I knew that I wanted to be a speech pathologist was when I was volunteering at Prairie Meadows Therapeutic Riding Center.  The therapist had just gotten out of college and I had an idea of what I wanted to do, so I started asking questions.  She had graduated as an occupational therapist assistant (OTA), and I had been exploring this field of work and thought it was very interesting.  I then saw the therapist sit one of the kids down and start therapy involving speech, and language.  I saw this and knew that’s what I wanted to do; I wanted to help people gain or regain this skill that comes naturally to me.  Volunteering here was the best decision I have made because helping the kids and watching them grow in strength and in themselves is the best feeling I could experience.

I get to intern at Speech Swallowing and Voice during this school year, and I am very excited to start. Interning here will give me that much more for college, and it gives me an idea of what the job entails.  I researched the Speech, Swallowing, and Voice center, the place of my internship and their services include therapy for dysarthria (slurred speech), facial weakness (Bells Palsy), stuttering, swallowing and many more.  Many people may go to a speech pathologist because they had a stroke.  Some kids go to therapy because they may have autism or cerebral palsy; these different diseases may complicate the skills of speech, language and swallowing.  Some adults go because they have parkinson's disease and may need help swallowing.  Some of the other reasons to go to therapy is because the person is not understanding what someone is telling them.  There are many other reasons to go to speech, voice, and swallowing therapy.  

In order to be a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) the person has to get a Masters Degree.  I have decided to go to Kansas State University, or Wichita State University in the Communication Sciences and Disorders program.  I really want to learn about all the different aspects of SLP.  I get to intern at the Speech Swallowing and Voice center during this school year from september to december, I am very excited to start.  I’ll be working with Susan Kennedy and Delane Huett, the owners of Speech, Swallowing and Voice. I will be helping with therapy, working with both adults and pediatrics.  I will be in school for about 6 years before I can receive my Masters. Doing this internship means I won’t be going into my carreer blind.  In order to be a speech pathologist I have to take anatomy and physiology of speech and hearing, language acquisition, audiology, communication disorders, speech and language assessment techniques, phonetics and american sign language, aural rehabilitation, dysphagia, speech and language research, motor speech disorders, fluency, speech disorders in children, and language assessment and intervention.

The job outlook for an SLP is 21% from 2014-24.  In 2014 there were 135,400 speech pathologists in the US.  According to MGH Institute Speech Pathologist can be hired in schools, hospitals, nursing homes, or they can be a traveling SLP who goes to houses to work with patients. Washington DC is 14% higher than average with a salary of $101,000 SLP’s according to salary by state.  The average salary for a speech language pathologist is $ 82,000 for a speech language pathologist.   An SLP inpatient acute cares salary is about $62,000.  An SLP in a school's salary is $82,000 as well.

I am kind of nervous to start interning just because it is a new place and a new environment.  I am, however, excited to learn new skills and meet new people.  Everyone that I have talked to said that Speech Language Pathology is so much, and it is very rewarding. I am super interested in all the different aspects of Speech Language Pathology and learn more about the differences between doing therapy with pediatrics and adults.

I really enjoy working with kids and I would enjoy the reward of seeing the adult get better.  This is why  I was volunteering Prairie Meadows Therapeutic Riding Center. Working with the adults may be more thankful because they had these skills at one time and kids are just kind of all over the place at times. I would enjoy working with both adult and pediatrics.  I love helping people get better, or accomplish something that they need.

Intern Zach Meyer- Baughman Company

Hi My Name is Zachary James Meyer the First. Here is a little background information on me. I live on a farm, and we just got a new dog named Rosco. I wanted the name Jeer (Hunter in Luxembourgish) but my family over ruled me. I have four siblings. My two older siblings are married. They have beautiful wives and each one has three children. One of the siblings has another child on the way. One just had their third less than a week ago. I am the Godfather of two of them.  I am a senior in high school. I am playing my fourth year of football and extremely excited about the season. We have our first game this Friday against Andover Central. I am a team captain, and I wear number thirty-four. I am also extremely excited to start my life on my own away from home. This internship will help me decide which path to take away from home.

The reason I want to be a civil engineer in this internship class is because my science teacher once told me I could be a good engineer. Some other reasons are that I am good at math and science, no one else in my family has ever been an engineer, and it is a decent paying job.

   

My internship is at Baughman Company. I really do not know much about them but I am excited about starting my job experience with them. I am excited to see if I will enjoy civil engineering.  They are located in downtown Wichita right off Kellogg. I will be going there from 8-10 A.M. Tuesday-Thursday starting September 14.

If I end up going into this career field, it would take a four-year bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. This degree requires a lot of Calculus, more math, and many science classes which include Physics and Chemistry.

I hope to learn what a civil engineer does during this semester. I want to know how much a civil engineer goes outside. I would like to learn how much interaction civil engineers do with other organizations and construction workers. I would love to know how much time they spend on the job site they have designed. I want to really understand what they do in the office, too. I want to see how much they use CAD.  I would like to learn the hours of the day that they work. I want to know how much they interact with the government body in the cities that they are building bridges and roads. There is so much that I am excited to learn about in my new internship and this class. I am even more excited if I will be able to apply it to my future life!!

A part of the internship that is unnerving is my success at the job. I want to be as successful as I can possibly be. What if I am horrible at this job? Only time will tell and my effort should lead me as I go.

I consider leadership as my strongest skill. I do not know if my personality will fit in with the company or not. I am somewhat talkative and I laugh a lot during the day. At least I think I am. Something I really need to work on during this internship is my stubbornness. I need to listen to my boss and do the job without questioning whether or not his way is better or if my way is better. I have experience on jerry-rigging stuff at the farm to complete tasks and objectives. I do not know if this will apply to the engineering side, but it is experience in building. I also have experience in CAD. I took a class sophomore year on CAD. We did a balsa wood bridge building contest and I won. Maybe this sets me apart from the competition or maybe not, but it does give me some experience.

My post secondary plan right now is the ROTC program through Kansas State University or Iowa State University. In doing ROTC my schooling will be paid for by the United States Military for 8 years of active or reserve duty. I plan on taking this route to become an Army Ranger and for earning my civilian degree without student loans. After my eight years of service I can either chose to keep serving or to leave the military and begin working on my civilian career. After my father retires from farming I also plan on taking over the family farm. I plan on taking this route because of what skills I have, money, and other personal reasons.

Baughman Company has been in Wichita for 48 years. The company prides itself on its innovation and creativeness. Clyde Baughman started Baughman Company in 1930.

Thanks for reading my blog post!

Zachary J. Meyer

Intern Kaylee Lies- Wesley Medical Center & Children's Mercy Hospital (Wichita, KS)

Hi, my name is Kaylee Lies. I’ve lived in Andale, Kansas for over 11 years and I attend Andale High School. I am currently living with my parents and my two sisters. My parents and my older sister both went to Andale High and WSU. My older sister is currently at WSU in her first year of dental hygiene. She is following in the footsteps of my mother. I have always known that I never wanted to do dental hygiene. I always knew that I wanted to help people though. When I was younger I wanted to be a veterinarian, then I slowly changed my mind into more of CSI and coroner work. Finally, I had dropped all those ideas and I knew that I really wanted to work in nursing. My dream would be to become a labor and delivery nurse or an OB nurse, but because I have yet to actually see what actually goes on I think this internship is the perfect thing for me.

This college and career readiness senior internship program is new to Andale and we are the first class that gets the opportunity to use it. On Mondays and Fridays we will be in the classroom working on our blogs and resumes, talking about college, and logging our times at the internship. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays I have two hours at my internship. I go to Wesley Medical Center where I will follow in the footsteps of nurses and doctors and help them in any way possible. I will take notes and observe them. I will also have two days sometime in this semester where I will go to Children's Mercy Hospital for an eight hour day of learning there as well.

I think this is great opportunity to see if this is the field I want to go into. It will help me in the long run so I don’t waste a lot of time and money in college. I chose this career because I love children and infants. I am thoroughly fascinated by the miracle of life and would love to learn more about it. This goal of mine to become an OB/labor and delivery nurse will be extremely difficult but I know I can do anything I put my mind to. I have taken the CNA course and really love helping people. I plan to get a CNA job because it is a great way to get into the nursing field and to be around and help patients just like any other nurse. I will have to study hard and pay great attention in my internship to try and learn and realize if this is what I really want to do for the rest of my life.

I hope to learn a lot of the basics of what an OB nurse would do in their everyday job. I would also like to learn the amount of school and requirements you have to take to become one. Another thing I would like to learn is their salary. From what I have found on the internet they make about $69,000 per year. I truly just want to find a career that I am passionate about.

I am a little nervous that I might be thrown into something that I have no clue what I am doing. I don’t think that would happen but it does make me nervous that I might possibly mess up something that could be very important. I am also afraid of getting flustered and confused. I will have to be on my feet knowing where to go at all times and I’m afraid of get completely lost in that big hospital.

I have pretty good social skills. I have no problem talking to people especially if I don’t know them. A big weakness of mine is talking in front of a bunch of people. I would like to strengthen that skill of mine. I am not grossed out by much. I can handle any type of body fluid or freak accidents. I have a very strong stomach and I actually enjoy helping people with any kind of problem they have. Taking the CNA clinicals was not difficult for me. We had to change, feed, and bathe all the residents.

As of right now I don’t really have any post-secondary plans. I am hoping I will love this internship and it will help me for what I am looking for. If I were to dislike it I would also hope something there in the hospital would strike my interest and I would look further into that. But as of right now I am considering going to Hutch CC because here at Andale High we are offered a ton of HCC and Newman classes. I have taken almost all of them and have a lot of college credits. I could potentially start at Hutch as a sophomore and save a lot of money. I then plan to enroll in the nursing program at Pittsburg State University.

Intern Gabe Kuhn- Great Plains Communications & HighTouch Technologies

Hello, Bonjour, Hei, Cześć, my name is Gabriel M. Kuhn.

I am a senior at Andale High School and am currently enrolled in an internship class that has allowed me to expand my knowledge of the business field by having hands on shadowing of someone who has been doing this for a while now. For someone who does not know me very well, I will start off by saying that I am an active person who enjoys being outdoors. My family has a mountain home in Fairplay, Colorado that I visit all the time in the summer. While I'm there, I take my Jeep Wrangler through the mountain trails and also hike 14’ers. Besides breathing fresh pine air, I also enjoy watching the beautiful game also known as soccer. My favorite club is Tottenham Hotspur, who play in the Barclay’s Premier League in England. I hope to one day be able to attend their matches but for now I just watch them on TV at 6:00 in the morning.

Now that you know more about me here is a debriefing of what my internship will be of. The internship will occur with two different companies. The first one being, Great Plains Communications where I will be learning more about the world of telecommunications. I am excited for this internship specifically because it will improve my social and business skills with other people and will give me an upper edge on the other applicants when it comes time to getting accepted into a college. My other company, High Touch Technologies, is a lot bigger than Great Plains Communications and will give me a more in-depth approach on the exquisite world of I.T. and cloud based services. I am anxious to meet my mentor Jeff Lucas, who knows a whole lot more than I know and will be a great person to study and learn from.

This career path is one that is not typically chosen but I feel as if it suits me very well. Since I was young I have always been inspired by technology and how it is advancing at a tremendous pace. My father has spent 20+ years in the telecommunications field and now just transferred to the I.T./ Cloud Storage field; so just by studying what he has done has helped me choose this pathway. The last reason why I chose this pathway is because I wanted to dress and be in a job path that is similar to my favorite movie series, James Bond, where you wear a suit everyday to work and talk business over a cocktail.

For me to reach this goal and job many things must be put into place first such going to college to learn important skills. To be successful in this career, prestige plays a major toll in what goes on so the more college the better. I plan on getting my bachelors and then moving on for a masters which will benefit me in the future. Getting a degree in Business and Management is probably the best way to go but, also taking classes that are related computer technology can also help out for this career. I will also more than likely have to move away from the Wichita area to get employed at a successful company, so cities such as Denver, Austin or Chicago are on my radar for possible openings in the future. I will also have to build relations even before I apply for my first job because this field is big on creating relations with other people. This internship will be perfect for just that so that when I get out of college I will already know a few people that could help me out.

Throughout the duration of this internship I hope to learn a lot about what the I.T./Cloud Storage field has to offer. Some specific things that I want to gain knowledge of is for starters, the terms. There are so many terms and acronyms that are used on a daily basis so memorizing this for the future will be very beneficial. The overall atmosphere of the office is something that I will also be aiming for to get accustomed to. Every office is different, it could be as chaotic as a Wall Street mutual fund company or laid back like a law firm.

At Great Plains Communications things are very simple; business telephone.  The CEO, Jim Bevilacqua, primarily has and still does provide telephone services to companies in the region. In April of 2016, High Touch Technologies bought out GPC and took the reigns on all of the serious business which brings me on to my next company of discussion, High Touch Technologies. The company was started in 1984 by Dave Glover, Mark Lenz and Ted Carey. The company provides the following services to their customers; virtual cloud storage and backup, virtual desktop housing (aka WAAS), video conferencing and rent-to-own software. This prestigious company is one of the biggest cloud storage providers in the Midwest and works with companies such as HP, Dell, Colorado Springs Utilities and Yingling Aviation.

This internship opportunity has me very excited and nervous at the same time. A part of me is eager to get started and begin my first day in the real world but at the same time my body is full of cortisol creating the “butterflies in the stomach” feeling that makes you uneasy at night. One thing is for sure though; I am ready to get started and learn all there is to the serious business world.

I feel that looking at other people my age that could be possibly looking into this field that I have a few traits and skills that sets me apart. I am a perfectionist in almost everything that I do so that even the little tasks are something that I put maximum effort into. Another trait that I contain is my energetic and vibrant personality that may be do to the large amount of caffeine that I consume on a daily basis; but even on a Monday I come ready and will stay alert the whole day. The last trait that I think is the most important one that I have is my attitude to strive for success. In my daily life I am working on becoming the best I can possibly be and always work on being more successful that you were yesterday.

My plans for the future to me are pretty straightforward even up to the point of getting my masters degree. As of right now I plan on attending Hutchinson Community College for a year to obtain my associates degree and run short distance for the track team. After that I look towards the University of Kansas where I will attending classes at the business hall to get my bachelors in Business & Management. Once I obtain that goal I look towards Europe to get my masters. The reason being for that decision is because the education system is better and more cost efficient for international students. It will also look great on a resume that I studied in a foreign country. I am currently looking at Finland, Germany or Sweden for my masters degree whom all have a great education system with top notch universities and could also be a great place to look for a job once I graduate. And not to mention that the food is 10 times better.

This whole internship will be a great learning experience for me and will open many pathways for the future. Like I mentioned before, I am very eager to start and learn more about the business technology field. This blog entry has been my very first entry but certainly not the last so in the meantime; greetings and salutations.

Intern Christian King- Bodyworx & ARC Physical Therapy

Hi my name is Christian King.

I will be interning at Bodyworx this semester on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays under Chris Fleming. I will also be splitting time with ARC Physical Therapy with Emily Kittle. As a side note Chris is also the athletic trainer here at Andale High School, and I have gone to him for multiple sports injuries that I have had throughout my career. I am really excited for this opportunity to shadow him, and the opportunities that this internship could open up for me. This will look really good on a resume, and will give me a really good resource when applying to college and for a job. This internship is something that I am a little nervous about, but I am mainly excited for it. I think it helps a lot that I already know my mentor, so that will make the transition into the internship a lot easier than it will be for most of the students in this class.

The first time that I knew that I wanted to do something in the physical therapy field was a couple of weeks after my first patellar subluxation during football boot camp. I was sent to physical therapy at Via Christi, and I needed crutches to get around. After just two weeks, they had me off of the crutches and walking again. I remember thinking how awesome it would be to be able to see the progress that the patient was making on their road to recovery. They had me back on the football field by week 5 of the season. I have been to physical therapy for my knee two times since then, and I am currently in it now. These experiences have given me a first-hand look at how physical therapy can decrease recovery time and improve the daily life of a patient. These are the reasons that I would like to do something in this field.

It now takes a doctorate to become a physical therapist, and I know that will take a lot of hard work and extra years of schooling. I will have to learn how to study more diligently because I haven’t really had to study very much in high school. I believe that is going to be one of the toughest things for me in college. To get through the high level coursework that is required to obtain a physical therapy degree I will need to learn to prepare more in advance for deadlines and tests. School work will have to be my number one priority.

I would like to learn how the methods used by the therapists at Bodyworx differs from the treatment I have received at Via Christi. I would also like to learn about the different programs that they use to keep everything organized. I also think it will be interesting to learn how different injuries are rehabilitated compared to each other, and I think that I should see many examples throughout my internship. The main thing that I would like to learn is if physical therapy continues to be the career path that I am interested in pursuing by the end of my internship.

Right now physical therapy seems like a good job to have. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the physical therapy field has a 34% employment rate, which is higher than the average in most professions. Also, the median salary in 2015 was $84,000, which is nothing to complain about. It also just seems like rewarding work because you get to take someone who is injured and help them to get back to their daily routine. They do this through different stretching, mobility, and strengthening exercises that gets the patient back on the right track at a comfortable pace.

I don’t have any actual experience helping people in this field, but I have been helped by physical therapy on three different occasions. I have seen a lot of the exercises that are done in physical therapy, whether I was doing them or the person next to me. I also am a very hard worker, and I will do whatever it takes to get a job done. Throughout my high school career I have maintained a 4.0 GPA, and I am eager to learn and can pick things up very quickly.

I’m not 100% sure what I would like to do for post-secondary plans, and I am open to many options. I am really hoping that when I go out and do this internship that I will realize whether or not physical therapy is something I will want to do. If it does work out, I would consider going to Hutchinson Community College because they have a PTA program there, and going to Hutch is always a more inexpensive option. KU and WSU have good physical therapy programs, so those might be good options to consider also. I am also considering going to a Junior College like Pitt State or Butler and getting some classes out of the way before I decide what I really want to do.

Bodyworx specializes in physical therapy and also evaluates patients that have suffered concussions. The concussion specialist is Chris Fleming, and he is who I will be shadowing throughout this internship. They use the A.I.M. Patient Treatment Method, which they developed, and it is designed to get athletes back to 100% faster. Bodyworx currently has one location and employs three professionals with degrees in their respected fields.

Intern Aaron Kerschen- Mid-America Orthopedics (Physical Therapy)

Hi, my name is Aaron. I am a part of the Senior Internship Class at Andale High School, and the career that I am interning for will be physical therapy. I was born in Wichita, Kansas, but grew up just north of Goddard. I was raised by my parents, Denny and Rita Kerschen, and had four siblings, an older brother and sister, and two younger brothers. I had a normal but fun childhood. During the summer, I would swim in my pool and run around the yard chasing my siblings with a garden hose, while wintertime was spent making snowmen and having snowball fights. Faith has always been a big part of my family; we went to mass together every Sunday, and my mom was in charge of my religion class. My mom ran a daycare business out of our home, and my dad was an IT manager at ADT security services.

The first time that I ever thought about making a career out of physical therapy was after my little brother Jak was involved in a car accident. This was during my junior year of high school. He broke his neck and was paralyzed from the chest down. Jak was flown to Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colorado, where he began rehab. On the many times that I drove to visit him, I watched his sessions and sometimes even helped him during his physical therapy. Seeing how these therapists helped give my little brother his life back was what inspired me to choose physical therapy as my career path. The thought of helping people recover from any disabilities or injuries they have sustained was pleasing to me, I have always been a person that reaches out to help people in need.

Being a physical therapist isn’t an easy job. It requires at least three years of schooling, and most programs require a bachelor’s degree. All physical therapists in the United States must have a Doctor of Physical Therapy(DPT) degree and be licensed. Some programs also admit college students into a 6 or 7-year program that allows them to graduate with a bachelor’s degree and a DPT. After graduation, physical therapists could be given extra tests and exams to keep them up to date on all of the new procedures and exercises. The average salary for a physical therapist is around $80,000 per year, obviously with more schooling and a higher degree, the salary will raise accordingly.

I hope to learn many things from this internship class including: more in-depth knowledge about the exact duties and obligations of a physical therapist. I don’t know much about what a physical therapist really does. I’ve gone to physical therapy before, but I wasn’t there all day to see what else is required of a physical therapist. I believe that this internship will help me gain the knowledge that I want to know, as well as learn new things about this career path that may alter or change my view of physical therapy positively or negatively. Either way this class will help me decide if physical therapy is the right career for me.

I believe that I have the necessary skills it takes to become a PT. Physical therapists work with their patients every single day, so they must have a good amount of social skills. My current job requires me to talk and work with hundreds of people every single day, from infants to elderly, so that will help me with communicating with my patients. PT’s must also be hard-working and dedicated, doing everything within their knowledge and power to help their patient make a full recovery from whatever injury or disability they may have.

If, after this internship class, physical therapy is still the career path I would like to pursue, I plan to attend college at either Wichita State University, Emporia State University, Or Newman university. I know that all three of these colleges offer degrees in physical therapy, so the deciding factor will be things such as annual costs, quality of program, location, etc. Participating in this internship class will also help me in finding a job after I graduate, whether it’s applying for a position at Mid-America Orthopedics where I am interning, or using them as a reference for wherever it is that I decide to apply.

Mid-America Orthopedics doesn’t just offer physical therapy. They offer many services such as joint replacement, physiatry, sports medicine, and occupational medicine. They have multiple doctors on hand, Dr. Pat Po, Dr. John Babb, and Dr. Justin Strickland being chief among them. My actual mentor will be physical therapist Nick Biggs. I was lucky and I have known Nick for some time, our families go to the same church, he has helped in teaching my religion classes, and my mom has done daycare for his children. I am very excited for this internship class and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me and my career.

Intern Jacob Horsch- L&B Plumbing

Hi my name is Jacob Horsch. I have two older brothers, three younger sisters, one mom, and one dad. This year I will be interning at L&B Plumbing. I had never really thought about plumbing or anything I wanted to do till the end of my Junior year. My uncle who has been a plumber for twelve years approached me and asked if i’d like to work over the summer. I accepted and wasn’t really sure if i’d enjoy it and want to continue it or just do it for a summer and move on.

I ended up really liking it, and when I heard about the senior internship class, I thought it would be a great way to gain more experience in this field, and really decide if it was right for me. To become a certified plumber you have to apprentice for two years then pass the plumbing license exam. That uneases me a little because the exam is all about safety codes, and regulations and a lot less of things you actually need to know, but I guess that makes sense cause you will learn that while you’re apprenticing. While interning I hope to learn more about the certain codes you have to pass to make a house OSHA approved. An inspector comes and checks your work every time you finish a certain point in a house, I want to learn what he’s checking for and how I can do it myself. Not only would this make the exam a lot easier, but if I ever decided to have a house built, the average cost of plumbing on a new house is $60,000-100,000 however, I could cut that in half doing it myself. I am set apart from competitors because I started young, and will have more experience than anyone my age. In plumbing the more experience you have the more you can do, and the more you can do the more money you make your boss. Bosses seem to like that in an employee. The average salary of a plumber is near $50,000. If you enroll in a plumbing technology program available at most universities or comm. colleges , then you can get your masters in plumbing. With a masters you have authority to self-employ or even start your own business. The salary for a guy who runs his own  successful plumbing business is more like $200,000.

For my future plans I would like to go to WSU and get a degree in business. With that degree I would like to eventually start my own business in commercial plumbing. L&B Plumbing does mostly residential and new home construction. There's a lot less of a headache in residential plumbing than commercial plumbing, but there is good money to be made in commercial. You make contracts with businesses like McDonald's or others, and every time a McDonald's goes up in your area you get to do it, and instead of getting paid for however long you are there working like in residential plumbing, you just get paid a set amount which can be crazy high like $25,000 for most McDonald's even if it only takes a day or two of work. With residential plumbing you for how many workers are there and for how long. A certified plumber is $200 an hour at a job and an apprentice is $100. The problem with commercial plumbing when building hotels, motels, restaurants, etc. is that the safety inspections get a lot tougher, and there are a lot more codes you have to follow. When doing residential and new home plumbing, some counties don’t even have inspections. If you build anywhere around the Saint Joe area your house doesn’t even have inspections. A lot of businesses will do their own, because that’s just good honest business, but it let’s you get away with a lot of pointless codes. There are no counties where there aren’t inspections for commercial plumbing.

There is a huge demand for plumbing in a lot of states like Kansas and Texas where more people are retiring from the field than are entering it. Plus people are always going to be building new houses, remodeling, water heaters will go out, people will want new appliances, and much more. Plumbing is a profession that will be around for a long time. As long as people drink water you will need a plumber to get it to them.

This is why I chose plumbing as my internship. It’s a fun and exciting career, where you never do the same thing every day, and you’re never in the same place every day. There is a lot of problem solving, and taking things apart to see what's broken and fix it, then put it back together. You also get to work with your hands and see what you have done, where a lot of office jobs you just punch numbers into a computer and it's not very satisfying, unless that’s the type of work you’re in to, but for me I like working with my hands.