UNMC’s Step-Up Omaha interns graduated from their summer job experience earlier this month with praise from UNMC leaders for their growth and an appeal to consider UNMC in their futures.
This year, seven interns at UNMC participated in the initiative organized annually by the Empowerment Network and the City of Omaha. The UNMC interns worked in human resources, the chancellor’s office, academic affairs, dermatology, orthopedic surgery and hospital medicine, along with the Munroe-Meyer Institute and Global Center for Health Security.
In a welcome message played during the Aug. 4 graduation ceremony at the Wigton Heritage Center, UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, said he hoped the interns received invaluable insight into the culture and people that make UNMC a great place.
Sarah Gloden Carlson, JD, UNMC’s assistant vice chancellor and director for human resources, told the group that they made a difference on the campus this summer.
“We hope you come back,” she said. “We absolutely hope you come back.”
Said Evelyn Grixby, who helps to facilitate the program with UNMC Human Resources, “We want them to go away understanding UNMC is a premier employer.”
Grixby called the intern class “the cream of the crop” – and said each of the interns brought a unique personality to the group and have shown growth over the summer.
The graduation ceremony had the theme: “Believing, achieving, succeeding.”
“If they can believe in themselves, overcome self-doubt, have the confidence to take action and work hard to get things done, the achievement is inevitable,” Grixby said.
Intern Marcus Sherrod, who spoke at the ceremony, said the program is helping him take a step by wanting something more within himself.
“I feel like I’m progressing to something else,” he said, “something more ideal.”
Words cannot express the significance of the words that the two students spoke at the ceremony! And, like Dr. Davies also said in his keynote, we welcome the students back in the future, regardless of the industry they choose!