Student Interns honored at annual BEST Breakfast

_{By: Andrew Mees, Director of College and Athletics Communications                      communications@bloomfield.edu}

The Bloomfield College Center for Career Development honored the institution’s campus work-study students with a special morning event on April 10, as the division held its annual BEST Awards and Recognition Breakfast in the College’s Student Center.

A total of 22 students received recognition during the festivities, with Communications, Humanities and WBCR intern Perla Peralta earning the program’s highest honor, the Student of the Year Award. Office of Institutional Advancement intern Melina Reyes received the program’s Intern of the Year Award, while Bloomfield’s Director of Marketing, Debra Hartley, received the Program Supervisor of the Year Award in a presentation made by her intern, Francesca Columbo.

Chemistry, Math and Natural Sciences intern Josie Daldegan-Rezende earned On-Campus Intern Award honors, while Sherlley Alvarez took home Off-Campus Intern Award accolades. Center for Career Development intern Bryshawna Otto took home the Transfer Intern honor.

Recognition was also bestowed upon the outstanding student for each academic class, with Office for Students with Disabilities intern Trudy Ann Davey taking home Senior of the Year honors. Institutional Advancement intern Charlene Barkley earned Junior of the Year honors, while Center for Student Leadership and Engagement building manager Jahwan Robinson won the Sophomore of the Year Award. First-year Residential Education and Housing office assistant Abisola Adewolu earned Freshman of the Year honors, while 13 students received Honorable Mention recognition.

The campus’s federal work-study program, Bloomfield Educates Students for Tomorrow through Career Experiences Today (BEST) provides need-based funds for students to earn money while working within institutional departments or at approved off-campus sites. Through the program, students work and gain career-related experience while being presented with challenging assignments that make an impact in their respective departments.

The program was recently recognized for its influence in February 2014 as Nerdscholar.com named it one of its Favorite Federal Work-Study Programs in the nation.

“Our annual Awards and Recognition Breakfast is a time when we stop to recognize and appreciate what the students do quietly every day in almost every campus department,” Center director Carol Ruiz said. “It gives us a chance to say ‘thank you’ to the over 250 dedicated, up-and-coming young professionals who are our student workers and interns. They are Bloomfield College; and, they are the BEST."

The Center for Career Development will hold its next event on April 30 when they host representatives from staffing employment agency Adecco for the annual Way to Work Careerathon, which provides graduating seniors the opportunity to get personalized career search tips from industry professionals.

Click here to view our Flickr Photo Gallery of the BEST Awards and Recognition Breakfast.