As the semester begins, students across campus are beginning more than just a new schedule.

For many, the change in semester also brings new professional opportunities in the form of internships.

Senior sports, arts and entertainment management major Marcus Salvatore is carrying his internship with the Pittsburgh Steelers over into the new year.

“I get to help with everything that happens leading up to the game,” Salvatore said. “I’m involved from booking the anthem singer, any pre-game performers, halftime performers and organizing all of the information for the game. That includes sponsors, who needs to be where and at what time, pretty much everything from marketing to logistics of the actual venue.”

Salvatore began his internship back in August after working for Stage AE doing similar tasks, an internship he got through a Point Park career fair.

Although  Salvatore  wants to focus his career in a music-related field, he credits his time spent with the Steelers for teaching him how events happen on a large scale.

“Getting to see what you put all of the hard work into happening in real life is definitely the coolest part,” Salvatore said.

Junior cinema production major Taylor Colbert is following Point Park’s emphasis on networking through her upcoming internship with the Pittsburgh Film Office.

Like Salvatore, it was connections to Point Park that led to the position. Colbert works as an office assistant in the Alumni Relations Office, where she gained the experience necessary for the internship.

“I had filing on my resume from my position,” Colbert said. “The internship isn’t so much working on sets, it’s more doing paperwork and filing and helping to bring films to the Pittsburgh area.”

Colbert’s dream is to be a feature film director or editor, and although the internship is tailored to a more behind-the-scenes look, the benefits come in other ways.

“As a cinema major, there’s a ton of different avenues you can take,” Colbert said. “This is an industry where you have to know someone in a higher up position, and this internship is great to just meet people in the industry and to network with industry professionals.”

Senior psychology major Hannah Su Hepler also has an internship this semester that pertains to her major. Hepler helps out with Gwen’s Girls, an organization that helps empower young girls.

Hepler, like Salvatore and Colbert, was first introduced to Gwen’s Girls through a major-based internship list at Point Park.

“Gwen’s Girls caught my eye on the list because of their message and motive,” Hepler said. “It’s a very girl-oriented and race-based work, because it is working with mostly African American young women, and I really liked the idea of being an after-school mentor and surpassing the idea of just being an academic tutor.”

Hepler begins her work with assisting the girls with homework, then moves into a group or a STEM activity.

“With Group, I just talk with them,” Hepler said. “They learn about self-esteem, body image and racism – really heavy topics that we bring down to their level of understanding so they can have an awareness of them.”

Hepler, from a psychology perspective, thinks Group is the most rewarding part of Gwen’s Girls, allowing the girls to form their own opinions politically or racially and be able to stand up for one another as a community.

“This is giving me that experience of working with people from different situations,” Hepler said. “Being able to impact them on a deeper level than just academically is rewarding in not only a professional way, but a personal way as well.”