Allen Gets a Jump Start on Future Career through Internship Opportunity
MOUNT OLIVE- Skyler Allen has always been active. From after school events to major sporting tournaments, Allen’s child and teenage years encompassed community and the outdoors. It was therefore only natural that the adventurous Clayton native wanted to pursue a degree and career in recreation and leisure studies (RLS).
Allen applied and was accepted to the University of Mount Olive (UMO) in the fall of 2015. Recognized for her scholastic achievements and other involvements, the first generation college student received the Leaders Scholarship and the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation Scholarship.
The UMO RLS program is widely recognized for providing an educational environment that fosters students’ passions for leisure services, recreational therapy, sports management, exercise science, and physical education. The program allows students to immerse themselves in the professional field for field training and internship courses. Allen found the program to be just what she needed.
“The professors within UMO’s RLS program have provided me with the information and tools that I need to be successful in any area of parks and recreation,” Allen said.
This summer Allen is participating in an internship with Selma Parks and Recreation Department. “The internship is more than I could have hoped for,” she said. “Each day is a new, exciting experience.”
Through her internship, Allen shadows the everyday tasks of the department’s director, which can include budgeting, payroll, and purchase orders. She has aided the department’s program coordinator in the process of planning and preparing for events. Allen has even assisted the athletic/park maintenance director in preparing the county’s athletic fields for game days and maintaining its various parks and facilities. She has learned to be ready for any parks and recreation eventuality.
“I never know what I’m going to be doing, so every day I bring a change of clothes just in case,” she smiled.
UMO’s Skyler Allen is all smiles. She has recently been hired to a full time positon with the Town of Selma Parks and Recreation Department.
Skyler Allen talks with one of the lifeguards during her summer internship with Selma Parks and Recreation Department.