November 15, 2016
Major: Accounting
Area of Support: Professional U
“I wish I had done this sooner,” says Sheri A. Lippowitsch ’81, of her gift to establish a Virtual Professional Experience Grant.
“I’ve been giving ever since I graduated in the 80s. I was planning to put BU in my will anyway; with this gift, I can see the impact of my contribution while I’m still here.”
It was the opportunity to make a long-term impact on a student’s professional life that caught her attention. Sheri had great teachers at Bloomsburg, but says the summer spent at BU doing a Community Government Association internship was the most impactful. Her goal is to help students get an even more enriching professional development experience.
“When I graduated, there wasn’t any mentoring, and there weren’t a whole lot of off-campus internship opportunities either. I’ve been fortunate to have a great career, but I wonder if it could have been even better if something like this had been available to me.”
Philadelphia native Hakeem Thomas took advantage of the biggest opportunity of his life —one that he hopes will lead to a career in cyber security — during summer 2016. “If this support wasn’t available for me, I would have missed out on this opportunity that I know is going to change my life,” he says.
When my supervisor at my campus job introduced me to the internship program provided by The Washington Center in Washington, D.C., I was terrified, but her faith in me pushed me to apply. When I got accepted I knew I had to do it. I applied for a Boguski Capstone Scholarship to help finance my experience and was lucky enough to receive it!
I truly believe that the organizations I was involved with and the interactions I had at Bloomsburg all helped me become a more well-rounded person and secure that job. Programs helped me by teaching me interview skills and introducing me to new kinds of businesses. Above all, my internship opportunity, made possible by a Bloomsburg alumnus, was what propelled me into the real world.
