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 91�ȱ��� Stories      October 23, 2025

By Bill Studenc

Sixty-five students from Western Carolina University’s College of Business recently completed internships designed to help provide them with critical hands-on experience in industries ranging from travel and tourism to professional sports.

The internship requirements are part of a philosophy of producing graduates who are “business ready,” said A.J. Grube, dean of the College of Business.

“The real-world work experience provided by internships gives our students an advantage over students who don’t have that on their resumes,” Grube said. “Employers are assured that the students who’ve done internships have an understanding of the work environment and have an established work ethic.”

Among the recent crop of College of Business students back on campus this fall after their internships is Carly Walters, a senior from Oak Island majoring in hospitality and tourism management and entrepreneurship.

Walters spent the summer sailing the Caribbean Sea as a youth staff intern for Carnival Cruise Line aboard the Mardi Gras, one of the company’s largest ships. In that capacity, she was responsible for hosting onboard activities and supervising children.

“One of my favorite aspects of this internship was that there was no ‘typical day.’ Every day was different from the day before, depending on whether it was a sea day or a port day,” Walters said. “On sea days, we were open for longer hours. On port days, most guests would get off the ship, so we didn’t need as many people working, which meant a lot of us could explore the ports.”

In her role, Walters was responsible for ensuring the safety of children in her assigned group and organizing activities to keep them occupied and happy.

“We hosted a lot of different activities including art, sports, science and discovery, among others. We also hosted theme nights and night owl parties, which meant we got to dress up in costumes and decorate to make the kids more engaged in the activities,” she said.

Walters said she was surprised she was constantly treated as an actual employee, not just an intern.

“I had to complete all the training required for a first-contract employee, and once I finished, I had safety duties, which included certain responsibilities in case of emergency,” she said. “Another surprise was how easy it was to get close to people and then how hard it was to say goodbye when they left. On the ship, everyone feels like family because you live where you work.”

She also said she enjoyed meeting co-workers and travelers from across the globe. “Because everyone is from different parts of the world, you may never see them again, which is hard,” Walters said. “I think this just made me appreciate the relationships I made even more because everyone treated me with such love and kindness. They all wanted me to succeed, which made me feel like this is something I want to do after I graduate.”

In fact, the experience has firmed up Walters’ career objectives following commencement next year.  

“This internship really helped me decide what I want to do with my life after graduation. I have always loved traveling, and I absolutely loved this internship. I plan to return to Carnival, continue working with them and travel for free while I’m still young and not tied down to anything,” she said.

For spring graduate Patrick Creech, a sport management major from Greensboro, a pair of summer internships with two Minor League Baseball organizations led directly to employment with his hometown National Basketball Association G League team.

Creech completed internships in the summers of 2023 and 2024 with the Winston-Salem Dash and Asheville Tourists, then applied for another internship this summer with the Greensboro Swarm, an affiliate of the Charlotte Hornets.

“They actually moved my resume from intern to a full-time role, and after a couple interviews they hired me as an account executive,” he said. “My goal after graduating was to get a full-time role with a sports organization. I was fortunate enough to find that right out of the gate. ”

Creech’s job is to sell various ticket packages offered by the Greensboro Swarm – full-season memberships, voucher books that include 10 undated tickets, and group packages for companies, youth teams, schools, churches and other organizations.

“A typical day usually includes calling different people to sell ticket packages. Sometimes it is cold-calling, and other times it is people who have already expressed interest,” he said. “Our season doesn’t start until November, so I haven’t experienced a game day yet. I am excited to see how my typical day will change once the season begins.”

Creech credits his education in the College of Business with preparing him to immediately jump into his career.

“I had lots of great professors who taught me skills and professionalism that I try to utilize in my job every single day. I would say the most beneficial experience I had was the sport management apprenticeship class,” he said.

“I’m a hands-on learner, so being able to go out and gain actual experience with the 91�ȱ��� Department of Athletics and use those skills I learned in the classroom was huge for me and was the first taste I got of working in the sports industry. The apprenticeship class is unique because you won’t get that opportunity at a lot of other schools. It is a big reason why the 91�ȱ��� sport management program stands out,” Creech said.

Summer internships serve as valuable opportunities to augment what students absorb from textbooks and lectures, he said.

“The internship complements what I learned in the classroom with both sport management classes and non-sport management classes within the College of Business. The sport management classes helped me learn more about how a sports organization is run and different strategies used that I can implement in my job today,” Creech said.

“The hands-on experience from the internships also helps me compare things I do in my current job and things that I have done in other places,” he said. “Because I’m in a sales role, I look back to some of the sales classes I took and use the things I learned there to improve the way I am selling today.”

Now back on land in Cullowhee after cruising the Caribbean, Walters echoed Creech’s thoughts about how internships provide opportunities to apply classroom learning to real-world situations.

“My education in the College of Business and my internship will help me achieve my goals. My experience so far in the College of Business, specifically in my major, has shown me what it means to work in the hospitality industry,” she said.

“Hospitality is about serving people and doing whatever you can to ensure they have the best experience. Through my internship, I learned about traveling and the hospitality industry from a cruise line's perspective, and I loved it,” Walters said. “Both my education and my internship made me love the hospitality industry, specifically the cruise industry, and I want to go back to cruising after I graduate.”

Internships like the ones completed by Walters and Creech help 91�ȱ��� graduates stand out from other candidates seeking career opportunities, said Theresa Cruz Paul, director of 91�ȱ���’s Center for Career and Professional Development.

“Employers weigh internships highly when considering entry-level hires. It is one of the main recruiting tools they use to make hiring decisions. Interns provide an excellent return on investment and offer a glimpse into the student's work style, fit and skills, making it a more secure choice compared to hiring untested candidates,” Cruz Paul said.

“Students need to have an internship in order to remain competitive – in particular, paid internships. These experiences increase skills, expand networks and enhance career-ready skills,” she said.

Cruz Paul cited a 2022 study of four-year college students by the National Association of Colleges and Employers that found those who had completed paid internships average 1.61 job offers after graduation, compared to 0.94 job offers for those who had unpaid internships and 0.77 offers for graduates who had no internship.