Champlain Student Receives College Women’s Leadership Honors – Rebecca Carlson ‘14 cited for social activism leadership in environmental policies

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By Kate Young ’14 / Champlain News

BURLINGTON, Vt — Champlain College student Rebecca Carlson ’14, has been selected to receive an honorable mention for the College Women’s Leadership Award, a national award for social activism and political engagement.

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The award recognizes young women from all over the country who exhibit outstanding leadership skills as well as a commitment to social activism or political engagement. Those selected represent a whole variety of political affiliations, social causes and academic institutions across the country.

Carlson, originally from East Hanover, NJ, is majoring in Environmental Policy and minoring in Business Administration at Champlain College. She is president of the College’s environmental club and works for Sustain Champlain.

Earlier this year, she led a group of faculty, staff, and students in attempts to achieve fair trade designation for Champlain. In addition, Carlson is working to develop a new club on campus that combines outings, such as camping, hiking, kayaking, etc., with educational experiences like wilderness first aid and volunteer options like trail maintenance.  She is an active member of the rock climbing club, was a Peer Advisor for a year, and will be an Orientation Leader this fall.

This spring, Carlson began interning with Vermont Caribbean Institute. She helped the organization in its efforts to strengthen communities in the Caribbean through sustainable practices and community engagement, following many examples evident in Vermont. She plans to continue as an intern with VCI in the fall.

This summer, Carlson is in Costa Rica, interning with the Neotropica Foundation. She is conducting a documentary-style video exemplifying the work of Neotropica, as well as working hands-on with its projects. Thus far, she has been able to help with environmental education in rural schools, mangrove restoration (planting mangrove seedlings, or, as she says, getting very muddy), participating in rural tourism projects to help empower the local communities to make sustainable livelihoods, and spreading the word about conservation (specifically in the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica, because it is arguably the most biodiverse area on the planet and contains 5 percent of the world´s species).

Carlson adds that in her free time, she enjoys rock climbing, snowboarding and traveling. When her summer internship ends, she plans to backpack in Central America until school begins in late August.

“The Future of Politics and Social Change: Young Leaders to Watch,” by Sugati Publications, offers a compilation featuring the recipients and honorable mentions of the College Women’s Leadership Award. They are recognized in the book as “young women to watch in the future.” The author of the book, Terri Spahr Nelson, noted that the women “exemplify the passion and characteristics of emerging leaders who are making a difference in our world.  These are some truly noteworthy young women who will lead us into the future.”

The booklet was recently published online and is available to the public at no cost at www.womenandpolitics.us.

Champlain Busy Beavers – On Air

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By Kate Young ‘14

All summer we’re checking in on some of our students and their variety of different summer internships. This week we talked to Jack Carpenter, who is representing Camp Champ at CBS News!

Jack Carpenter ’15

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CBS 6 News, Albany, New York

Jack Carpenter, from Clifton Park, New York, is a Broadcasting and Streaming Media Major at Champlain College. Even though the station was not advertising for interns, Carpenter was able to get this internship by tracking down the name of the right person and sending her his real and resume “an annoying amount of times.” He explains that they accepted him either because they liked his stuff, or they just wanted him to shut up.

Being the only intern chosen to work at the station, Carpenter gets to work in all different departments and experience everything happening in a newsroom. On the technical side, he is learning all about the business of advertising, how to sell ads and then how to organize clients so they all go on air properly. On the production side, he sits in with the news team and brainstorms story ideas as well as going out with the reporters and photographers on commercial shoots, news segments, and live action shots. He also gets to work on the creative side with web advertisements, promotional flyers, and handouts for clients of the station.

“My absolute favorite part is walking in at 8:30 (but I don’t like the fact that it’s 8:30) with everyone and having absolutely nothing to air, then over the day seeing a 30 minute set gradually come together in time for the 5 o clock news.”

If you want to check out some other Champlain students with awesome internships check out these articles here and here. Also, keep checking back for more coming each week!

Champlain College Open House

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By Kate Young ‘14

Saturday is going to be a busy day on the campus; it’s a Champlain College Open House! At this point there will be about 225 families making their way from seminar to seminar, buying swag at the bookstore and falling in love with the college.

People gathered at the beginning of a Champlain College Open House last fall. (Photo by Stephen Mease)

People gathered at the beginning of a Champlain College Open House last fall. (Photo by Stephen Mease)

Over 700 people will be here to explore campus, talk to staff, and figure out why Champlain is the perfect place to attend college.

After the open house begins with opening remarks and presentations, families are pretty much able to pick and choose their day. There are admissions tours and overviews planned through the event, but beyond that, the options are extensive. There are sessions covering everything from the Financial Aid process to Study Abroad. Families can hear about Career Services, Core, Career Integrated Learning, Student Services and more! They can even stop by the bookstore before heading to the dining hall for lunch. On an open house day, all bases are covered.

“Open Houses give potential students and their families a chance to see the campus at it’s very best. They get the opportunity to see the campus, get engaged, and explore, more than they would if they came for a normal visit and tour,” explains Bret Dewhurst, senior assistant director of admission at Champlain.

If students are looking for a fully immersive, open-ended way of looking at the school, they need not look any further than an open house. This is the chance for potential students to take a day and really ask themselves, “Is this where I want to go?”

There will be more open houses in the fall, on September 14 and October 26, and people looking at the school are able to visit for an information session and a tour. All information regarding visits can be found here.

Champlain Busy Beavers – From Films in LA to Startups in Stowe

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By Kate Young ‘14

Last week we caught a glimpse of some of the fantastic internships that Champlain students are working on this summer. This week we talked to two more students who are working with people from as close as Stowe and as far as California. Take a look at these two busy beavers!

Ben Pacocha ‘14

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Abominable Pictures, Los Angeles, California

Ben Pacocha is majoring in Digital Filmmaking at Champlain College. Through a friend of a high school alum, Pacocha was able to get an internship at Abominable Pictures. He flew out to Los Angeles with no plan and ended up networking while he was there. As a camera intern, he was on set for the shows NTSF:SD:SUV and Children’s Hospital. He built the cameras for the ad, made sure the camera crew had everything they needed to shoot, and did some “slating” here and there. Pacocha explained that they got to shoot with 2 Arri Alexa cameras at all times.

“My absolute favorite part was working with the cast at awesome shooting locations. Because it was a smaller budget show (around 2 million for the season) and the production company was very relaxed I got to talk to a lot of the cast and crew and ask advice and learned a lot from them. At first I wanted to be a DP (director of photography) but after being involved with Abominable my aspirations have changed to writing/directing comedy. Watching and learning from guys like Paul Scheer, Rob Riggle, Chris Parnell, Rob Corddry, Eliza Dushku, Ed Helm, and Ken Marino was a huge help to figuring out how to go into writing and directing. The crew shot at awesome locations in LA such as Disney Ranch, Melony Ranch, Delfino Studios, and the San Pedro shore. Django unchained was shot at Melony Ranch so it was cool to walk around on that set and see which shots were where. Great experience and I highly recommend students doing a summer semester and interning out there. Great people, a lot still going on there, and you can’t beat the weather.”

Natasha Weinstein ‘14

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MySightSee, Stowe, VT

Natasha Weinstein is a Marketing Major at Champlain. She attended the Champlain College Job Fair in late March and got connected with the MySightSee company there.  For her internship, Weinstein helps with market research and producing sales leads. When necessary, she will help with research markets, and she is learning about being a salesperson at the same time.

“My favorite part about working for MySightSee is the people I work with. I am really loving learning about sales and getting to know my colleagues.”

Check back throughout the summer for more profiles of cool summer internships! Email me at katherine.young@mymail.champlain.edu if you have an awesome internship that you want to talk about.