Summer interns make contributions in Marion County

Over the course of a nine-week summer internship, 10 Duke University students in Marion County have been working earnestly to serve the community.

Charlotte Maze, David Womble, Alice Yen, John Luttrell, Brandon Hill, John Deans, Lauren Anderson, Noelle Kelly, Khadijah Bhatti and David Oberst, all rising sophomores, are part of the Benjamin N. Duke Scholarship Program. The program covers tuition and plenty of other fees and includes summer enhancement experiences. According to literature about the program, 10 to 15 scholarships are awarded each year.

“Basically we’re here for the summer doing our Carolina Summer of Service,” Yen said, adding that students have individual internships. The program begins with an eight-week internship in the Carolinas after the freshman year, focused on community building and service. After the sophomore and junior year, scholars embark on an international exerperience of their own design. The goal of the cultural enrichment experience is to become more intentional and empathetic citizens of the world.

Yen works alongside Mullins City Administrator Pete Rogers. “She’s really been pleasant to work with. She’s eager to learn and very intelligent,” he said of the public policy major.

Deans works with Dr. Paul DeMarco, director of Rural Community Health Programs at Francis Marion University. Dr. DeMarco said Deans was terrific and worked hard the entire summer.

“I’d usually pick him up at 7 a.m. and he worked a full day, always looking for something to do and peppering me with tough questions. He did a great deal of research for me about health care policy. He also helped with weekly health screening in Bennettsville,” DeMarco said.

Hill works with Marion School District 1 and Luttrell contributes at the Mullins Nursing Center and Helping Hands clinic.

Womble has been working alongside Gordon Harper and Habitat for Humanity.

Maze works at the Pee Dee Mental Health Center and Kelly contributes in the county through the FMU Center for the Child and the Troy-Johnson Learning Korner in Mullins, while Anderson also works in education at the Nichols Head Start.

Oberst works at the Marion County Library and Bhatti has been working with Fresh Start. The students close out their internship experiences with an end of the summer celebration on Thursday.

“The people most closely involved in our internships will be part of it,” Deans said. The students said it’s been interesting getting to know the community through their individual areas.

“We’re also working on a service project before the summer ends,” Yen said.

During their down time, there is room for some travel, such as visiting the beach, Carowinds and going out to eat, along with working out at the local wellness center and doing a little fishing.

Maze said the internship is pretty flexible, despite working 30 hours a week. All the participants this summer are from North and South Carolina.

“Given that we’re only here for nine weeks, we’ve learned a lot about the town and a lot about the area,” Womble said, adding that the supervisors have been a big help.

Womble is shown after a catfishing trip in Marion County.

“Everyone has been really welcoming and gracious,” Deans said. Bhatti called the experience in Marion County enlightening.

“The Duke intern program has been a real boost for Marion County. These ten brilliant and high energy young men and women have made an impact,” DeMarco said, adding that in turn the students learned about the rewards and challenges of rural small town life from some of the most committed professionals in the Pee Dee area.