Kissimmee/Osceola Chamber Summer 2021 Interns

This summer, the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber hosted two interns from CareerSource Central Florida‘s Summer Youth Intern program.  Sherman, an incoming sophomore at St. Cloud High School, and Sebastian, a recent graduate, were with us for three weeks. During their brief time with us, we gave them a crash course in the workings of the Chamber and our role in the community.  Though the short duration of their internship and the restrictions of COVID-19 made for some challenges, we were able to provide Sherman and Sebastian with experiences that align with their future career goals.

Sherman, who aspires to play for the NBA one day, attended the Orlando Magic‘s 2021 Draft Party at the Amway Arena.  Said Sherman, “My experience at the draft event was fun and I had a good time and even got to see players I’ve watched for a long time get drafted to the NBA.”

We are indebted to our friends at HCA Healthcare and the Hunter’s Creek ER, who offered Sebastian, who plans to study nursing before joining the Navy, a tour of the ER and one-on-one time with VP Donny Abraham and Lead Nurse Mariza.  Donny and Mariza took time to answer Sebastian’s questions about ER operations, different types of nurses, and career options in the nursing field.

Sebastian shared the following about his time here at the Chamber in his own words:

“The time that I have spent at the Kissimmee Chamber of Commerce has been invaluable. Not only have I learned new concepts and things I have never even heard about, but I also gained very valuable experiences for my upcoming chapter in life, and for that, I am extremely grateful. I had the pleasure of meeting some of the most wonderful people I have ever met. The Chamber’s team is a family and they treated me as such.

I’d like to thank Kayla Rogers for the awesome job she did to guide and keep us on track on our internship.  I would also like to thank Daniel Lopez for the amazing opportunity he gave me to go with him and shadow him in a County Commission meeting, and also for sitting down with me and Sherman to teach us about government and the 3 federal branches. I would like to thank Christina Pilkington for taking time off her busy schedule to take me to a tour inside Hunter’s Creek ER.  I genuinely did learn new things that I did not know were possible in the medical field. I would also like to thank Sue Ring for giving me and Sherman the chance to sit through a meeting with doctors and medical higher-ups. That was a great experience for me and it opened my eyes to a topic in the medical field that I did not know was a big issue. I would also like to give thanks to Robin Hughes for helping me clear up some questions I had when I was covering the front desk.  I would also like to thank Iris Resto for being super helpful and very sweet answering some questions that I had.

Lastly, but most importantly, I would like to give a huge thanks to John Newstreet for giving me the amazing opportunity to do my internship at the Chamber.  I’m very pleased that I had the chance to learn and grow as a person thanks to the Chamber.  The time I have spent at the Chamber has been something else I cannot thank enough for how well the Chamber staff has treated me and helped me look deeper into my career choice.”