Administration of Justice student Chelsae Hickman will be an intern with the US Probation and Pretrial Service Office in Pittsburgh.
A Penn State New Kensington campus student has recently secured a prestigious internship with the US Probation and Pretrial Service Office in Pittsburgh.
The internship will take Chelsae Hickman of Leechburg to Pittsburgh’s William S. Moorhead Federal Building.
Hickman, a senior Administration of Justice major, is very pleased with the position.
“Chelsae is over the moon,” said Dr. Kristine Artello, assistant professor in the Administration of Justice program.
“She’s thrilled, she already started the job,” Artello said.
The internship, which was open to AOJ and Criminal Justice students as well as those pursuing fields like Psychology and Criminology, lasts between three and four years while the student participating completes a master degree.
Hickman plans to study for a Masters in Social Work and also a degree in law.
"I knew this would be a good match for her,” Artello said. “She’s good, she’s an exceptional young woman.”
Artello credits Hickman’s skills, which she said are already at the graduate level, for helping her to receive the internship. Writing, critical thinking and presentation skills set students like Hickman apart, she said.
Because she works so closely with her students, Artello said she’s often able to help them hone their skills so that they can present themselves very professionally.
The ability to apply her classroom skills and knowledge in a real world setting will be a welcome one and, Artello said, even something as small as citations and formatting will be valuable in the context of Hickman’s work while participating in the internship.
Hickman at times has supplemented her work with additional studies, like finding books on subjects her class is studying and reading up on them.
"We have a lot of wonderful students,” Artello said. “She’s always going that extra mile.”
Penn State New Kensington’s AOJ program is new, and Hickman is one of its first graduates.
“I’m very proud of Chelsae, and I know she’s going to do great and wonderful things,” Artello said. “That’s why I was very excited when she got the internship.”