The Internship Program at Xaverian (IPAX) is a dynamic opportunity for rising juniors in the Honors Program to learn about a wide variety of careers in hands-on, real-world experiences with talented professionals.

These students from Xaverian H.S., Bay Ridge, not only gain valuable work experience and networking skills, but they also greatly enhance their resumes for college applications. Quite often, students write unique and engaging college essays based on their experiences in their internships.

Designed to help students make well-informed decisions about their future majors in college and investigate potential career paths, IPAX places students with mentors (who are quite often Xaverian alumni) in their desired professional areas of interest. The list of partner organizations is constantly growing and includes the areas of architecture and engineering, journalism, law, business, medicine and dentistry, arts and culture, politics, military and law enforcement.

Students, parents, and mentors alike rave about IPAX and its impact on students’ professional and networking skills, as well as their ability to greatly enhance their college resumes.

Kathleen Coen has sent three children through Xaverian programs. Her son Patrick graduated the high school last year and her son Francis is a junior. Her daughter, Kathleen, graduated as a member of Xaverian’s Genesis Middle School’s class of 2014.

“One of the most enriching aspects of my son’s time at Xaverian was his Internship at Greenman-Pederson Engineering,” Coen said. “Patrick was mentored by a partner there who provided a fascinating insight into the daily workings of a major engineering firm. He gained exclusive access to a high security project to protect the Brooklyn Bridge from terrorist attacks. He toured the construction site at the World Trade Center. After each visit, my son would talk for days about how interesting it was. The internship experience made my son more marketable as an applicant to colleges. It also helped him discern that engineering was a path he wanted to pursue. He is presently majoring in engineering at the United States Naval Academy.”

For more information about the Internship Program at Xaverian, visit www.xaverian.org/ipax.

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