IS400 Capstone Presentations: Putting It All Together

We are nearing the end of the semester, and four interdisciplinarians have completed their senior capstone work and presented their learning experiences to their internship committees. See below for quick introductions of the graduating seniors, the ways they are combining their disciplines, and a description of their final projects! We had three internships and a project this time.

(Just wait until May, when we will have triple that number! 🙌🏁🏆🎉 - Yeah, I don't think I will sleep between March and May. I will be fretting.)

Casey Demko, who is combining Sports Studies and Business to prepare for a career in coaching (but grad school first), spent the last three months working alongside Parks and Recreation in Hartsville, planning and supervising afternoon and weekend sports activities, teams, and games. He got an especially good sense of customer relations when he interacted with young athletes' parents.

"Coaching really involves wearing so many different hats, and the IS program clarified for me how all my interests connect!"

Chloe Johnson gained significant additional experience in the area of human resources (this was her third internship in the field of HR) working for a mid-sized plywood company, tracking driver certifications, publishing a monthly newsletter, and developing an employee morale survey. She will be looking for related positions, putting to work her studies in business and psychology. She has applied to 15 related positions already and is continually working five different job search sites and keeping her profiles current.


"Time management was a big thing for me - I had two internships and coursework to keep track of this semester, but it was worth it. In Human Resources you deal with so many different people - I really built on to my skills!"

Laparis' Rogers added to her previous experience in the pharmacy of the Hartsville's CareSouth office with a more in-depth internship with CareSouth in Bishopville - this time, she focused more on the business side of the pharmacy (such as hiring, ordering supplies, and most-commonly prescribed drugs).
Combining work in the disciplines of biology and business, she is preparing for further certification and, after years of employment as a pharmacy technician, is looking into lab and research work, as well as health care office work, to enter into the job market.

"The internship was very helpful because my supervisor, Mr. Jeffery Hancock, always reminded me that my field of pharmacy work should be something that I love. You can't do it for the money!"

Jenna Collins is not actually graduating quite yet! She still wants to spend a semester abroad in Valencia, Spain. But for her capstone project, she interviewed several professionals in the medical and pharma industry to reflect her interests in biology, chemistry, business, and communication, and she has created a film about the life of a pharma sales representative. And yes, it it both informative and funny!

"I found out interviewing professionals is a lot harder than I thought - the science was the easy part, which was new for me!"




These four students took control of their studies by deciding on the skills they wished to gain in their capstone experiences, securing internships or planning a project, and completing the work they (and their faculty advisors from the individual disciplines) laid out in their project plans.

A big "Thank You!" goes out to supporting faculty: Professor J. Wacker and Dr. S. Parker (Casey), Drs. E. Litton and L. Bowers (Chloe), Profs. J. Wacker and N. Long (Laparis'), and Drs. J. Flaherty, S. Varjosaari, J. Wacker, and P. Gloviczki (Jenna). The program only works because of the support and expertise of faculty in the disciplines who generously share their time and knowledge.

Also, we are thankful to the Student Success Center who helps securing internship placements, advises on career research, and provides support with resumes and cover letters. Thanks to them, these IS grads are already squared away in their job searches.

See you are the December graduation, Casey, Chloe, and Laparis! (and Jenna in May?)