UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Paris Pavelchik, a third-year student at Penn State majoring in French and Francophone Studies and Architectural Engineering, has spent the summer in Midland, Michigan as a performance building solutions intern with DuPont—an experience that she said has exceeded her expectations.

“I’ve worked with residential based products in the lab in the Building Knowledge Center,” Pavelchik said. “I’ve worked with new materials like Tyvek and Flashing and conducted market studies and analyses in the lab.”

Pavelchik’s internship was made possible with support from the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts’ Chapel Executive Internship Program, which provides $5,000 to Liberal Arts students completing full-time in-person internships in the business or private sector.

“The financial support provided by the [Chapel Executive Internship] program has been so incredible,” Pavelchik said. “Although I had to live in a different state, I’ve been able to get an apartment and also take summer classes, which I’m really thankful for.”

Pavelchik also holds the distinction of being the youngest person to receive a Chapel Executive Internship this summer. “It makes me feel so accomplished,” she said. “I’m proud that I’m meeting high expectations at a young age.”

Pavelchik said her experience this summer has allowed her to obtain the knowledge and connections she needs to further her career and work toward her professional goal of working historic restoration projects throughout Europe following graduation. But being a Chapel Executive Intern is just one way that Pavelchik has already made her mark at Penn State — she is also a Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar and is involved in a plethora of on-campus activities, all of which, she said, she believes have set her up for success in the future.

While Pavelchik is proud of everything she has done to date as a student, she said her greatest accomplishment so far since coming to Penn State is more personal.

“I’m most proud of how far I’ve come as a person,” Pavelchik said. “I used to be very introverted, and I really feel like I’ve broken my shell and made so many connections.”

This is one in a series of stories about Liberal Arts students who are participating in Chapel Executive Internships this summer. Students interested in applying for a Chapel Executive Internship for fall should apply by the Sept. 1 deadline through the Liberal Arts Career Enrichment Network.