Great People, Amazing Opportunities
On April 12th, 2012 two graduates – Rita Asfour ’11 and Dana Abu Lail ‘10 – completed a six week Sir John McGuckin Mentoring Internship program, at California State University Stanislaus (CSU). Dana and Rita interned at CSU’s Advancement Office, under the supervision of Ms. Michelle Lahti the Assistant Vice President for University Advancement, seen sitting between Rita and Dana (right).
It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to use technology so useful to Advancement Offices all over the world, to connect with the two English Literature graduates via a Skyped Video conference, organized by Raneen Al-Arja of the Alumni Relations Office, where she had an update about all the new opportunities the graduates are taking part in, through the McGuckin Internship Mentoring and Internship Program. The girls report that the hospitality of their hosts and friends at CSU has been incredible.
Graduation 2012It was also a great opportunity to learn more about what the graduations have been learning through doing during their daily work as interns in the Alumni Relations and Development Offices, including their work on the state of the art Raiser’s Edge software, used at Stanislaus and at Bethlehem University. Rita and Dana have also worked with various Alumni Relations events at Stanislaus, have learned about the work of the advancement office in CSU, assisting in its various departments, and are preparing to return to Bethlehem, where they will share their learning and experiences with us.
Graduation 2012Ms. Lahti, their supervisor, spoke highly of Dana and Rita as good persons who are “bright, engaging, and dependable.” Ms. Lahti is planning to come to Bethlehem next year to visit with Dana and Rita, here in the Holy Land. In addition, Rita and Dana also got to meet up with fellow alumna Rawan Bannoura ’09, in San Francisco, who hosted them for few days and showed them around the area. They also celebrated the Easter holiday together. The three alumni reflected on their Bethlehem University experiences opened up many opportunities for them and has helped them get closer to achieving their long-term career goals, which they plan to use while serving the Palestinian people. Rita and Dana also hope to be able to bring their skills back to Bethlehem University, to contribute to the exciting work taking place on campus.
Graduation 2012Bethlehem University, and especially the Alumni Relations Office, is grateful to Dr. Hamid Shirvani, President of CSU and his wife, Mrs. Fathi Shirvani (seen right with Dana and Rita) – who hosted Rita and Dana throughout all of their internship period – Lady Mary O’Brien, Lieutenant of the Northwestern Lieutenancy of the EOHSJ, Sir Fred and Lady. Nancy Lee (seen above), Area Coordinators of the Northwestern Lieutenancy of the EOHSJ, Carrie Rasmussen, Executive Assistant to the President of CSU, Michele Lahti, Assistant Vice President for Advancement, and a host of others whose generous hearts have supported Rita and Dana, and many other graduates, through the Sir John McGuckin Mentoring Internship Program.
To see a video about some of our students with the Sir John McGucking Mentoring Program, click on image below.