Ferris State University students gain valuable work experience through internships. Internships also can confirm or redirect career decision-making, provide marketability, develop people skills and enhance classroom learning. Many academic programs require one, but the experience is encouraged regardless to provide students with a better understanding of what will be expected of them in the workplace.
Many students are participating in myriad internships this summer. Meet: Kyle Bergman
He is: A senior from Howard City, Mich., studying Public Relations.
Internship: Bergman is spending his summer as a public relations intern for the Florence (S.C.) RedWolves, a collegiate summer league baseball team in Florence, South Carolina.
Bergman is completing this 14-week unpaid internship over the summer. Though his internship is unpaid, he received free housing in South Carolina.
What he enjoys: Bergman said he enjoys the behind the scenes aspect of putting a baseball game together.
“Normally, you just think about what’s happening on the field when you attend a game,” he said. “I get to see every little detail that goes into making that game happen.”
What he is learning: Bergman is applying what he has learned in his public relations classes to the world of sports. He has been perfecting his press releases throughout the summer.
“Writing a press release for a baseball team is very different than writing a press release for a company or nonprofit organization,” Bergman said. “It’s been fun learning to write using sports terminology and statistics.”
What he is looking forward to: Bergman spent the summer learning a lot about himself, which gave him a bigger outlook on life.
“Being on my own in a place I’ve never been before is an experience in itself. This internship is really giving me a real outlook on life after graduation,” Bergman said.
Core Value: Ferris’ core value that Bergman’s internship emulates is “learning.”
“I have been learning so much since I started my internship and I learn something new every day,” he said. “This internship has been very beneficial and has shown me that I would love to work in the sports industry after college.”
His future plans: Bergman expects to graduate in Spring 2015. After graduation, Bergman hopes to do public relations or social media work for a baseball organization.