Sydney Cathcart

Room for Play

Sydney “Sunny” Cathcart, a senior communication major with a cognate in diversity, has been putting creativity into play at an internship with The Children’s Museum of the Upstate in Greenville.

The environment is lively and fun. And amid the activity, Cathcart is skill-building by using what she’s learned in class in her role at the museum.

Whether Cathcart is working with staff, supporting museum programming, or helping with outreach and communication tasks, they’re able to hone skills like creative problem solving, interpersonal relations, intercultural relations and public speaking.

They say interning at a museum focused on fun, play and learning has made the experience even more enjoyable. The internship has also introduced Cathcart to possible career paths.

“In my future career, I will already have some reference of what a communications job might look like to help me better my work performance,” Cathcart says.

Cathcart appreciates having a paid internship that allows them to focus on gaining career-relevant experience.

“I wouldn’t have had the chance to be an intern without this grant, since I attend college and work full time to pay for college and bills on my own,” Cathcart says. “This allowed me to take a few hours off my now part-time job.”

The job has also helped Cathcart save a little money so they can have a small cushion while job searching after graduation.

“I’m able to go home every day without worrying that I went over budget,” Cathcart says. “I have enjoyed every second of my internship with TCMU thus far. I’m more grateful than words could express to be believed in so much that an organization encourages me to intern without that worry.”