Meet Miami U

Internships are one of the best ways to get professional, hands-on experience at Miami University. And if you’ve ever been a RedHawk, you know there are tons of opportunities! Whether you’re passionate about business, creative arts, or anything in between, you can find experiences that are more than just a line on your resume (though boosting your resume certainly doesn’t hurt). Through internships at Miami, you can build meaningful connections, make a real impact, and explore what drives you. Here are a few recent stories of Miami students doing just that.

Chloe Waddle ’25

Starting at Miami with multiple passions, Chloe Waddle decided to double major in Biology and Environmental Science and double minor in Spanish and Musical Theatre. She knew it would be a lot of work, but she never felt underwater — not even when she started her internship as a scuba diver!

The work was exciting, but it was also super important. For the environmental company Aquatic in upstate New York, Chloe worked as an invasive plant diver, removing Eurasian and Variable-leaf milfoil from lakes all over the Adirondack Mountains. As part of her training, she got to receive several career-boosting certifications for free, including the PADI Open Water SCUBA certification and American Cross First Aid, AED, and CPR certifications. And she loved collaborating with students from a variety of states.

“It was the most crazy but amazing experience,” she says. “And I still have friends all over the country because of it!”

What would she say to other Miami students looking for similar opportunities? She would pass along the advice that the Career Center had told her, the very tip that helped her find her own internship: Sign up for Handshake.

Ben Eicher ’24

When Ben Eicher landed a summer internship at a paper mill in Louisiana, he didn’t expect it to shape his entire career. But after a few weeks of working with the supportive crew at International Paper (and eating some terrific local food), he knew he’d found a place where he belonged. 

As an Engineering Management major, he found his niche in control system engineering at the mill, using software to ensure all the tech was operating smoothly and effectively. It was through this hands-on experience — and valuable mentorship — that he realized he had found his calling.

“Something clicked for me,” he says. “I was like, ‘I understand this.’ And I had a whole summer of learning under another engineer and asking him questions.”

Best of all, this internship helped him get a full-time job after graduation. As it turns out, being a control system engineer really is perfect for him — and not just on paper!

Makenzie Knore ’24

Makenzie Knore was always passionate about music and telling stories. After her internship at Universal Music Group in Nashville, she has plenty of music-related stories to tell! She didn’t know exactly what to expect on her first day, but by the end of the summer, she was helping to shape how the world heard music.

“I basically went into the office every day and did their marketing,” she explains. “So I was really into the data — the statistics of Facebook and Instagram, all the Meta platforms. My favorite part of the job, though, was that I got to listen to songs that were coming out in three months and pick the 60 seconds that people could make TikToks to!” Finding the best minute of an unreleased song sure does sound like a TikTok challenge.

Now, Makenzie has graduated with majors in Media and Communication and English Creative Writing and minors in Music Composition and Emerging Technology in Business and Design. Between all her programs and her fantastic experience, she’s destined for a future that hits all the right notes.