Welcome to our Winter Term Interns for 2014!

January is here and that marks the beginning of Elon’s Winter Term! Winter Term is the opportunity for students to take 1 class, work, complete one of the five Elon Experiences, or stay home if they really choose to (Although 98% of students complete a winter term each year). This winter term, the admissions office is lucky to have 3 interns: Claire Bonnell, George Guerrero and Peter Kesaris. This internship is meant to give them a quick snapshot of life in Elon’s Admissions Office. While the majority of their time will be spent on the road traveling with admissions counselors for our Evening with Elon programs, they also have learned a little about the application reading process, perfected their presentation skills and lived a day in the life of our staff. We hope you will enjoy meeting them on the road as much as we love having them in the office. Without further ado, here they are!

Claire Bonnell ’14

Claire Bonnell

Hi! My name is Claire Bonnell. I am a senior from Charlotte, NC studying Theatrical Design & Production with a focus in costuming. Additionally, I have a minor in Entrepreneurship. While at Elon, I have been lucky enough to study abroad twice. I visited Europe in 2012 to study the Holocaust during winter term. In 2013, I studied Microfinance in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

From my balance of textile discovery and design work with my study of Entrepreneurship, I have developed a passion for the Fashion Merchandising industry. Though that specific major is not available here at Elon, I feel fortunate that I have had the support of my advisor and other professors to take what I have learned in the classroom and apply it to a career path I am invested in and want to be a part of. This past summer, I participated in our Elon in NYC program and interned for Brooks Brothers’ Black Fleece Collection in the merchandising department. This experience was wonderful because I was able to learn firsthand and develop the skills truly used in this arena. I consider myself so lucky to have gotten the chance to do this.

Here at Elon, I love getting to see a wide range of opportunities. I have gotten to be involved in numerous areas of my interests that have been tied together through experiential learning. I have been able to discover through Leadership and Service as well as my newest endeavor, undergraduate research with textiles/fibers. Besides all that Elon has to offer educationally, I love the location of our university in NC. We get to see a few snow flurries a year but have a long and warm spring!

I will soon be headed to Vienna, Virginia to meet interested students. After, I will be headed to my hometown, Charlotte. I am hoping my Panthers (Including Cam Newton & Luke Keuchly!) will still be in the playoffs and I might get to see some Queen City hype for football! I cannot wait to meet students and parents and am thrilled to share all that Elon has to offer!

 George Guerrero ’15

George Guerrero

Hi all! My name is George Guerrero and I am currently a junior at Elon. I am an International Business and Marketing major with a concentration in Professional Sales. I came to Elon from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, right after my sister graduated from Elon in May 2011.

Last summer I had the chance to work for Plaza Lama, the biggest department store in the Dominican Republic. Throughout my internship, my responsibilities included the supervision of employees as well as surveying customer experience when shopping at the store. I conducted a total of 300+ individual interviews with customers. In campus I work at the Spanish Center where one of the main responsibilities as a Student Assistant is to recruit and to maintain students interested in what we the Spanish Center has to offer.

Throughout my internship I will travel to Atlanta, GA; Morristown, NJ; Raleigh, NC and King of Prussia, PA. I am excited about each event and can’t wait to meet and share my Elon experiences with all of the prospective students.

Here are just a few other facts about me:

Favorite thing about Elon:  The Elon Community! There is such a strong sense of community involvement that it really feels like a family.

Favorite Hobbies: I enjoy working out, playing basketball, dancing and hanging out with my friends.

Favorite place to eat in Elon: The Root, I really enjoy the Mozz Burger. I am also a big fan of Qdoba and Biscuitville!

Favorite TV show: Game of Thrones is the best TV show ever.

Best Elon Tradition: College Coffee

Favorite quote: “You will give yourself peace of mind if you perform every act of your life as if it were your last.”

 

 Peter Kesaris ’14

Peter Kesaris

 

Hey everybody! I am senior at Elon from Gaithersburg, MD. I am a Political Science major with minors in Leadership Studies and Criminal Justice Studies. I am looking forward to traveling to Towson, MD; Morristown, NJ; and King of Prussia, PA this winter term.  During these trips I will be speaking about my Elon experience and meeting prospective students.

I have had the opportunity to study abroad twice while at Elon. I spent a summer in Assisi, Italy, where I learned about the Italian language, culture and the legacy of St. Francis. Then I spent a semester abroad in the Sunshine Coast, Australia where I learned about their criminal justice system and modern racism.

Sometime during my travels I became very passionate about social justice issues. I used this passion to write numerous research papers about gay rights in America. I was ultimately able to start a panel dedicated to discussing local, national and international issues related to LGBT rights.

At Elon, I am a leadership fellow and in the LEAD program. On top of multiple leadership workshops and classes, I have had the opportunity to travel to Chicago and Cleveland and study co-ops, non-profits and community activism.

Because of these experiences, I was able to land an internship with a DC-based non-profit called ‘Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of the Deaf’ (HEARD). With this internship I sat at the table with community leaders, lawyers and government official and advocate for the rights of deaf people who were navigating the criminal justice system. I was even able to testify in front of the DC council on behalf of in-person visitation rights for deaf prisoners.

During my time at Elon I have been involved in starting two different organizations: Relay for Life and a fraternity. Relay for Life is a walk-a-thon dedicated to raising money for the American Cancer Society. I am currently serving as the Director of Recruitment and this year we are hoping to raise over $75,000! Also, I was a founding member of Delta Upsilon fraternity. My fraternity allows me to participate in numerous service projects but also has four key principles that I really believe in: The Promotion of Friendship, The Development of Character, The Diffusion of Liberal Culture and The Advancement of Justice.

All together I am very passionate about the opportunities Elon has given me and I look forward to sharing these experiences with others.

This entry was posted in Admissions Staff, Welcome and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Comments are closed, but you can leave a trackback: Trackback URL.