Some people know from an early age exactly what they want to do in life, while others begin college thoroughly undecided. And that’s okay, because whether it’s discovering who you are, or fulfilling a life-long goal, URI has you covered.

Just ask supply chain management major Manny Melo ’15, who received a job offer as a procurement specialist with Georgia Pacific nine months before graduation. He credits “an amazing series of internships”—four in fact—with giving him “a good sense of the whole supply chain world” and “playing an important role in getting my job.” According to Melo, “I came into URI undecided about what I wanted to do, and thanks to those internships I know exactly what I want now, and can’t wait to get started.”

URI offers countless opportunities and the faculty here really care about our success. My internship at WJAR NBC 10 has opened my eyes to a day in the life—I get in the van and I go.

For Jessi-Lynn Minneci ’16, majoring in journalism and marine affairs, it was a different story. In kindergarten her teacher predicted she’d see the aspiring news reporter and anchor on TV someday, and URI is helping her achieve that childhood dream. “I’m learning what my ‘superlatives’ are—honing my skills and putting together my demo reel,” says Minecci.

“URI offers countless opportunities and the faculty here really care about our success. My internship at WJAR NBC 10 has opened my eyes to a day in the life—I get in the van and I go,” she says of her television experience that has included writing, researching, film editing, and covering press conferences. An earlier internship at WMNP 99.3, an American Top 40 radio station, resulted in a paid gig on weekends hosting a radio show, and this summer she will intern for WPIX, a CW Network station in NYC, reporting news for its website and assisting the on-air team.

It was at the Center for Career and Experiential Education, designed to provide one-stop shopping, that Minneci worked on her resume, receiving help from an advisor who coached her on the interview process and regularly provided leads on news internships. A campus class also included filming and editing and a chance to practice anchoring in the URI TV studio.

“Our model gives students a competitive advantage,” says Kim Stack, the center’s director. “Students apply theory to practice in the field, and then return to the classroom ready to apply practice to theory.” The center’s experiential coordinators partner with faculty in each URI college for an integrated approach focused on learning, early exposure to varied internships and career coaching, and work with employers to design internships that prepare students for the workplace.

Whatever the path, with 7,000 students across many different disciplines engaged annually in some form of experiential learning, URI will get you where you want to be.