Internship gives students opportunities to work hard in recreation, local tourism

One day last spring, when more than 300 guests attending a sorority formal stepped off buses at the Beliveau Winery Farm in Blacksburg, Virginia, a particularly capable individual was ready and waiting to answer their questions and to direct lots and lots of foot traffic.

It was Paige McNair ’24, who just earned her degree in recreation, parks and tourism with a concentration in special events.

McNair, a Chesapeake, Virginia, native, is currently an intern with the winery – courtesy of her 400-level Professional Advancement in Tourism class – and she’s getting a comprehensive, experiential education in event planning.

“That was the biggest event I've handled so far,” said McNair, whose internship continues across the summer and who hopes to become a wedding planner. “I was looking for something that would help me learn about how to coordinate events, as well as give me hands-on experience.”

Indeed, through the floor-to-ceiling scope of her work, she’s getting her share of entry-level tasks, like greeting crowds and serving beverages, but she’s also learning how to schedule, plan and budget the types of gatherings she hopes to one day oversee herself.

Her mentor in that process, Joyce Beliveau, opened the winery in 2012 on 165 acres of land, with a brewery added five years ago, and she’s now sharing her experience with McNair.  

“I want her to take, from start to finish, the whole process of what it means to be in charge. That’s the goal for the summer,” Beliveau explained. “If she goes to a company that needs an event planner, I want her to be able to put on her resume, ‘I created an event and planned all the details.’”

Part of that involves brainstorming event accessories like live music and complimentary refreshments, but it also means careful budgeting so that the money coming in well eclipses the costs.

“We've got to make sure that at the end of it, we've got a profit. We’re trying to get her very much involved with setting up the projected income and then the actual income,” Beliveau said.

McNair is one of about a dozen students using Radford’s Professional Advancement in Tourism course as a springboard. Others secured internships around the New River Valley with the Pulaski County Tourism Bureau, the Mountain 2 Island water adventure company, the Draper Mercantile and elsewhere.

The class was created two years ago by Joshua Carroll, a professor in the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism. His course gives student job candidates on-the-job training in their fields of interest and fits neatly into President Bret Danilowicz’s goal of forming greater bonds between the university and local businesses.

“I literally just started reaching out to a bunch of my contacts, people I know in tourism in the region,” and offering them the services of senior-level students seeking mentorships,” Carroll said.  

“We built quite a following. I have businesses now that email me, asking, ‘Hey, are you teaching that course again?’”

Carroll’s class is separate from the department’s required senior-level internship: “It’s a way for students to dive deeply into their own goals and aspirations and gain experience that gives them a head start in finding their desired personal path.”

Their process actually begins well before their first day at work.

“I start the whole class off with a soul-search activity. I ask them, ‘Where do you envision yourself five years from now? What’s your job? What’s your lifestyle? What’s your calling?’” he said. “And what do you want to get out of this semester, realistically?”

They examine their core strengths, develop professional goals and build a timeline of success, then find a business that matches their ambitions, connect with it and establish an internship with a supervisor.

“I have them create a contract with them. I do that, really, to protect everybody,” Carroll said. “‘This is what you as a professional expect from me, and this is what I expect from you.’”

Jennings Felt, a senior from Purcellville, Virginia, wants to become a community event planner; she landed an internship with Lightning H Ranch, a new venue currently under construction in Pulaski.

Felt has been working with the owners on their marketing, social media and web presence.

“It’s been really beneficial to see behind the scenes,” she said. “I’m going to be helping with planning their grand opening event.

“It’s cool to be able to have that ‘from the ground up’ experience with a venue.”

When it came to brainstorming a dream job, Megan Reed has long focused on theme parks. Reed, who double majors in theater and parks and recreation, will graduate next spring and hopes to get a job as an actor or performer at Walt Disney World or Universal Studios Florida.

“They've always been places to have fun, and I really like giving that experience to other people,” she said. To prepare her for that, from January through March, she interned at Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke, altering and repairing costumes for the show “Escape to Margaritaville” while also appearing in “Bat Boy: The Musical” on campus.

“I was very, very busy, but it was a great experience just to see how a professional theatre works. At Mill Mountain, they have a makeup and wig designer,” Reed said. “Having professional theatre experience on my portfolio really helps.”

During the semester, students also presented a summary debriefing of their experiences. That gave all the interns a chance to discuss their individual experiences and share information about their progress.

“I think it genuinely has made me very excited for my end goal and my career path,” McNair said of the class. “It’s just kind of confirmed that this is something that I am excited about and ready to do for 50-plus years.”