Senior meteorology major Statira Petersen may be in a wheelchair, but she has no problem getting around. Petersen recently spent 10 weeks in Seattle as an intern with the National Weather Service branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Petersen worked with Sheila Milan, coordinator at the Center for Access-Ability Resources, to get her internship. Milan told her about the Entry Point government program for which Petersen had to fill out an application, send a resumé and have an interview with a representative from the program.

“I originally wanted an internship with NASA,” Petersen said. “But when they asked if I’d like to work with the National Weather Service, I said that was fine. And when they asked if I was willing to travel with the program, I said that was fine, too.”

For 10 weeks, Petersen stayed at the Mediterranean Inn. She worked from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. every day and saw the sights at night, including a visit to the Space Needle, the Pacific Science Center and an all-male production of Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew.” While it was a paid internship, the money went to cover Petersen’s living expenses throughout her stay.

Petersen spent much of her time working at the public service desk, where she handled weather-related calls from the public and the media. She also worked with National Weather Radio and did a project on El Niño and La Niña and flooding stages, which she was not able to finish.

“Time just ran out with the internship and I had to come back to school,” Petersen said. “They offered me the chance to come back next summer if I go to graduate school.”

Milan said Petersen started quickly on the internship.

“When I thought about the internship for Statira and when I brought up the internship, she was right on it,” Milan said. “She’s very detail-oriented, very responsible, very assertive. She has social presence, not just from her chair but through her leadership skills. She’s made her own way. She was the president of her floor, and she worked as a ticket agent for the Huskies, too. Also, throughout her academic department, she’s established her credibility on her own.”

One of Petersen’s few regrets about the internship she worked exclusively day shifts on her internship.

“I didn’t get to work any night shifts because of the bus schedule, which really hampered what I got to learn,” she said. “They do things very differently at night.”

Petersen is not the only student to use the CAAR office when it comes to getting a major internship. Hearing loss, due to cerebral palsy, has not stopped senior business management major Martin Lewis from working with people on a one-on-one basis. Last summer, Lewis had an internship with the Illinois Department of Transportation office in Downer’s Grove.

For seven weeks, Lewis worked as a customer service representative, closing accounts, answering phones and eventually working one-on-one with customers.

“Shiela referred me to someone in Job Placement,” Lewis said. “They asked me what I liked to do, and I told them I liked working with people. The timing was perfect and I consider myself to be real fortunate.”

Lewis hopes to work one-on-one with people for a living. He is considering focusing on human resources with his management degree, feeling he will bring diversity to any company he works for.

“For me, this internship was just getting my feet wet,” Lewis said. “Just getting an idea of what the working environment is like. They want me to come back once I graduate in May.”

“Martin impressed me so much because of his perseverance,” Milan said. “He’s such a people-oriented person, and very patient. He made such an impression on the IDOT people that they didn’t want him to return to NIU, they wanted him to stay to work for them. They even gave him a party when he left. They didn’t know how he would react in the customer service department and they didn’t know how customers would react, but customers called back commending him.”

Milan hopes Petersen and Lewis will serve as examples to their fellow students.

“With Statira being willing to go all the way to Seattle and Martin being willing to drive to his internship, students need to take the hint that you have to be willing to put yourself out there,” Milan said. “You can’t always stay safe and at home, sometimes you have to just jump into it.”