RSU junior Cambry Standridge poses outside the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. this fall during her Washington Center internship placement at the nation’s capitol.
A Rogers State University junior said her recently completed internship in the nation’s capitol provided her with both professional skills and a broader cultural perspective.
Cambry Standridge, a junior from Owasso, participated this fall in an internship through the Washington Center, a nationally-recognized internship program that places students with private, public and nonprofit organizations in Washington, D.C.
She interned with the Washington Performing Arts, a non-profit dedicated to bringing professional musicians and performance arts to enrich cultural experiences in the nation’s capitol. She served as an administrative and finance intern for the organization where she worked in its human resources office as well as accounts payable.
“The ability to dive into a professional internship like this was really a great opportunity for me to earn professional experience that will help me job after graduation,” she said.
As part of the internship, she enrolled in an introductory entrepreneurship class with a large number of students from other countries. Among the highlights of her time in D.C. was a performance from the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which brings together young Israeli, Palestinian, and other Arab musicians to collaborate and perform classical music.
“The experience really provided a great exposure to diversity and different perspective on life and business,” Standridge said.
This was the first time she had been in the nation’s capitol, and she said the Washington Center allows students from smaller cities with the opportunity to experience a major international city, like Washington, D.C. “The Washington Center staff did a great job of helping me and the other students acclimate to life in the big city,” she said.
A graduate from Lincoln Christian High School, Standridge is a junior majoring in business administration with an option in human resources. She has been actively involved in campus leadership opportunities at the university, where she currently is vice president of the President’s Leadership Class, a member of Phi Beta Lambda and the Campus Activities Team, and was co-director for the 2018 Hillcamp new student orientation experience.
The Washington Center is an independent, nonprofit organization that provides internship programs and academic seminars to college students. The organization arranges 2,000 to 3,000 internship placements annually. Standridge earned college credit for successfully completing the internship program.
Washington Center internships are comprised of internship placement, an academic course and the Leadership Forum. All students are enrolled in a particular program according to their area of interest. Each program focuses learning on concepts closely related to students’ intended professional fields. Activities and special programming, such as panels or tours of embassies or businesses, are tailored to the program’s core learning objectives and areas of study.
For more information on the program, visit www.twc.edu or contact Dr. Jim Ford, RSU Director of Academic Enrichment, at [email protected].