Our Youth

Not Even Limited by the Sky

Xaverian internship program
Xaverian senior Randy Antoun atop the Verrazano Bridge during his engineering internship with Northeast Structural Steel, Inc. (Click to enlarge.)

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

“My internship in civil engineering took my education to unimaginable heights – literally,” said senior Randy Antoun of his experience interning with Northeast Structural Steel Inc., saying, “I was able travel to the top of the Verrazano Bridge and examine its suspension cables and beams up close. This was just one of many truly unbelievable experiences I took part in through my internship. I was actually doing real engineering work involving physics and algebraic geometry. Next summer, I will be working Northeast Structural Steel Inc. again, but this time in a paid position, as the youngest engineer on their job sites.”

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; and politics, military, and law enforcement.

Kathleen Coen, whose son, Patrick, graduated the high school last year and is currently majoring in engineering at the United States Naval Academy, applauds Xaverian’s Internship Program.

“One of the most enriching aspects of my son’s time at Xaverian was his internship at Greenman Pederson Engineering,” she said. “Patrick and another student were mentored by a partner there who provided a fascinating insight into the daily workings of a major engineering firm. They gained exclusive access to a high security project to protect the Brooklyn Bridge from terrorist attacks. They toured the construction site at the World Trade Center. After each visit, Patrick would talk for days about how interesting it was.”

For more information on Xaverian’s internship program, visit www.xaverian.org/ipax.