As they approach graduation, every student is looking for ‘real-life,’ ‘real-world’ experience to prepare them for life after college. For the student ambassadors at the Sustainable Enterprise Accelerator (SEA), it doesn’t get much more ‘real-life’ than their experiences—from creating for clients to teamwork and peer coordination, the 10 students working at the SEA have all the preparation they need.
Senior integrated marketing communication major Adam Berch-Norton said, as one of the ambassadors, that there’s a lot that goes on in regards to all of the work they do. Each student has a different position and, with those positions, different responsibilities. For example, Berch-Norton is the marketing project manager and a co-editor of the SEA newsletter. In addition to the internal projects, each student also works with a local client.
“My client for the semester is the Slippery Rock Farmer’s Market, which doesn’t start until May, so a lot of what I’m doing this semester is putting out surveys to the community and getting feedback on last year’s farmer’s market and what they think could be improved,” Berch-Norton said.
The students also already hosted numerous events this semester, including the Youth Marketplace and Career Fair and keynote speakers like serial entrepreneur Don Morrison and travel writer Christopher Bakken. Berch-Norton said the events SEA has hosted so far have been fun and successful, and the ambassadors have learned a lot from creating content for the events.
The SEA, according to Berch-Norton, is a popular company for interns in the communication and business departments, especially those interested in nonprofits and sustainability. Located on Elm Street in downtown Slippery Rock, he said the SEA is ideal for students looking to intern while keeping their full-time student label.
“I had spoken with past SEA ambassadors about the SEA and they said that they had a wonderful time, that they learned a lot and that Dr. Golden was a great supervisor, so I applied,” Berch-Norton said. Assistant professor in the school of business John Golden is the internship supervisor at the SEA.
Working with nine other student ambassadors is an interesting situation, but Berch-Norton said he enjoys his fellow ambassadors and the work they do. He commended them especially on their work ethic and cooperation; when one or two have a busier week elsewhere, other ambassadors are more than willing to step up and contribute to whatever may be needed. The other nine ambassadors include:
- Economics and finance major Rachel Ameigh.
- Integrated marketing communication major Anthony Benvenuto.
- Business management major Conor Coughlin.
- Business management major Cortney Eakin.
- Integrated marketing communication major Jillian Evanko.
- Business management major Lucas Hopson.
- Environmental geoscience major CJay Moore.
- Digital media production major Logan Snyder.
- Integrated marketing communication major Bailey White.
With the semester around the halfway point, Berch-Norton said he’s learned a lot already from this experience, especially how to bounce back from mistakes made or things that didn’t go quite right. He also hopes to work with a nonprofit organization after his graduation in May and was glad to learn as much as he did about business-to-business cooperation and consultation.
“I’ve learned that, despite the fact that this has to do with businesses, you don’t have to focus so much on the commercialism aspect but also being personal with the companies that you’re working with and the people that you’re working with,” he said. “Do that on a personal level where, yes, you’re selling a product or service, but it’s more than that. There’s a story behind that.”
To learn more about the SEA, visit the organization’s website or email john.golden@sru.edu.
