northern today 15 spring 2014 It isn’t every day that a represen- tative of Disney emails to request a job interview. Mark Sperry of Bath, S.D., was a sophomore at Northern State University when he applied for an internship at Walt Disney World’s Epcot Theme Park in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. “I was thoroughly surprised when I received an email to set up a phone interview,” said Sperry. Out of more than 150 applications, the biology major was one of only three candidates selected for an interview. Eventually accepting an offer, Sperry spent June 2013 to January 2014 working at Epcot’s the Land Pavilion, an attrac- tion home to working greenhouses and biotechnology laboratories. Sperry worked both within the flow of park goers and behind the scenes in the laboratories. He acted as a tour guide through “hydroponic greenhous- es about once a day.” It was his responsibility to grow plants in tissue culture as a park merchan- dise item, he explained, adding that he also packaged and sold the Mickey’s Mini Gardens to park guests. “While I may have been heading to work these mornings, I feel as though I never truly worked a day I was there.” The experience ultimately helped him better understand how to conduct lab work and government research. Sperry acknowledges his experience as an NSU biology student as a positive background for Epcot’s laboratory requirements. NSU’s size has allowed him to maintain active involvement in multiple campus organizations, and he has gotten to know professors on a more personal level. The junior plans to continue work on his honors thesis, and will graduate in fall 2014 In Honoribus with a bachelor’s degree in biology and minors in chemistry and mathematics. He hopes to either apply for a Disney Greenhouse Internship or apply to return as the Biotech Lab Intern. Sperry also offered advice to other students who may be considering internships—“apply. The worst thing that can happen is not being chosen.” “The professors are always willing to help or give suggestions.” “I have been beyond satisfied – completely happy with the decision to come to Northern,” Lu Liu is originally from Shanghai, China. Daughter of Xin Hua Liu and Yu Ping Jiang, she was a student of Shanghai University of International Business and Economics. Interested in spending time overseas, she took advantage of the school’s exchange program and came to Northern State University for the fall 2010 semester. Liu was able to take classes she couldn’t have in China, immersing herself among both English speakers and literature. Upon returning to Shanghai and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English translation and interpretation, she chose to continue her education in Aberdeen. “I didn’t feel fulfilled,” said Liu. “I wanted to learn more about English literature and culture.” She returned to NSU and enrolled for the fall 2011 semester, dividing her attention between English classes and required generals before having to take a biology class. “I took biology, and then organic chemistry. I just found more passion for chemistry,” she explained. Liu found such enjoyment in the natural sciences that she decided to double major, adding chemistry to her English background. She began extensive chemistry studies in fall 2012. Heeding the advice from her advisor, Dr. Patrick Whiteley, she was able to find an internship that satisfied both her English and chemistry degrees: working as chemistry literature and review tutor under Dr. George Nora. She was awarded an undergraduate research grant in fall 2013 to assist her study to increase the drought tolerance of plants. Liu appreciates the hands-on laboratory experience that NSU has offered. “The professors are always willing to help or give suggestions,” she said. Liu graduated in May 2014 with both degrees. She was accepted into multiple prestigious graduate programs, such as Purdue University and the University of Notre Dame, and ultimately chose the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She will continue organic chemistry studies there in the fall. Disney grants Northern State student internship The Nsu senior honors student, Mike Newman, 23, hopes to teach college-level history and has been accepted to Binghampton University’s Ph.D. history program. He graduated in May with a history major and geography minor. “NSU’s departments of history and geography push you to exceed your supposed limits. I have been beyond satisfied – completely happy with the decision to come to Northern,” said Newman, a Vermont native. He said many things about Northern make it feel like home, but most valuable has been the opportunity to develop relationships with faculty members. “That’s been a huge inspiration in my own interest in becoming an academic – I’ve seen so closely what it means to be a professor, and I really like it,” Newman said. Newman’s honors thesis involved primary research, partially funded through an NSU undergraduate re- search grant, to trace his grandfather’s fragmented journey across World War II Europe to escape Nazi Germany. He presented the thesis to the public in February at Northern. Newman also presented other research at the recent National Collegiate Honors Conference. Newman’s research, carefully conceived, nurtured and developed at Northern, has been an additional catalyst for growth for Newman and his family. “I always knew I had a Jewish history. On Hanukah, we lit candles and said a prayer. It never really had much meaning for me and most of my family. Now that I have a better understanding of what my grandfather went through because of his Jewish identity…over the past few Hanukahs, we all come together and it just feels more involved, more invested with meaning.” Newman hopes others may discover meaning and answers from his research, if published. “My hope is someone can just read it if they find it interesting,” Newman said. “I hope that without ever having met me, they can find out about my grandfather, or children during the Holocaust, coming to terms with Jewish identity, European history.” For Mike Newman, history isn’t just the past; it’s his future Student finds passion for chemistry “While I may have been heading to work these mornings, I feel as though I never truly worked a day I was there.”
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