UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Dan Risser had the opportunity to blend his two majors — political science and labor and human resources — through a summer internship at Southwest Airlines, thanks to funding he received through the Virginia Todd Chapel Executive Internship Program in the College of the Liberal Arts.
The Chapel Executive Internship Program supports internship experiences for Liberal Arts students who achieve academic success and who seek top-level career development opportunities in the private sector. The program was established by Virginia "Jinnie" Todd Chapel and her husband, John, with leadership gifts creating an endowment now valued at $2.5 million. Virginia Todd Chapel graduated from Penn State in 1965 as an English major.
This year, the program offered 22 high-performing students a stipend of $5,000 for their internship experience.
Risser, a fourth-year student from York, Pennsylvania worked as a leadership training program intern with Southwest Airlines in Dallas this past summer, and he will return after graduating in December to fulfill a full-time position.
“There's such a war to keep and retain highly skilled talent, not just in the airline industry, but in every industry to begin with,” Risser said.
In efforts to better retain talent, Risser explained that last April, Southwest Airlines created a new department dedicated to supporting things like job architecture, succession planning, and leadership development throughout the company.
During his internship, Risser worked on a team targeting leadership development, where the team would identify high-performing individuals within the company and provide them with resources to help them succeed in the next level of leadership.
“We're working on the cutting edge of leadership and employee development,” Risser said. “Everything that we're doing has never really been tried before, so it's been a really exciting environment to be in.”
Risser said that in addition to keeping quality workers, Southwest also focuses on keeping costs low. He added that Southwest’s priority to keep good people and reduce turnover contributes to the company “culture.”
“We have such a unique corporate culture of fun and togetherness, and one of our key pillars and key beliefs is not taking yourself too seriously, but taking your work seriously,” Risser said. “It has just been a surreal experience.”
Risser explained that the duality of his degrees benefitted him greatly in his internship role, as his department encompassed both political science and human resources.
“Political science is largely built around relationship building, why people act the way they do, and very much a soft-skill, critical-thinking, relationship-building part of my education,” Risser said, “while HR is kind of that hard skill, business acumen. What keeps employees engaged? How do we optimize the workforce?”
Risser said the dichotomy of his two areas of study has helped him tackle issues that require both critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as understanding how to work and live with other people and further engage culture.
“I attribute all my success to the College of the Liberal Arts,” Risser said.
Risser’s internship also presented the opportunity to travel all over the country, where, with the help of funding from the Chapel Executive Internship Program, Risser was able to travel every weekend of his internship, except for one, which he used to explore Dallas.
While traveling, Risser said he took pride in knowing that in his role, he played a “tiny part in keeping these planes flying.”
“Being able to see the fruits of your labor and the purpose of why you do what you do whenever you travel, as well as the happy passengers, I think added a really extra special element. Like, ‘Okay, I get to be a part of this.’”
Risser applied to be a Chapel Intern after his sister, a Penn State alumna, recommended it to him as a great way to make connections and access funding. He said the funding was the only way he was able to afford his move across the country, as well as support his travel opportunities with Southwest.
“The funding enabled me to really see the nation from coast to coast, traveling from Seattle to New York to Puerto Rico, and really allowed me to just squeeze the most I could out of this summer and all the opportunities that presented themselves,” Risser said.
Though it was “bittersweet” to reach the end of his Southwest internship this summer, Risser will return to Dallas in December to pursue a full-time position in his current role.
“It feels so incredibly rewarding — all the relationships and the soft skills that I've gained, whether it be communication or working in a professional environment, but also just engaging in Southwest culture.”
This is the fifth in a series of stories about Liberal Arts students participating in Chapel Executive Internships this summer. Students interested in applying for a Chapel Executive Internship for fall should apply by the Sept. 1 deadline through the Liberal Arts Career Enrichment Network.