UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A passion for philanthropy and helping others has steered Nicholas Cedeño’s involvement at Penn State. The Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar is involved in THON, served as the philanthropy chair for his business fraternity, and interned with Penn State’s Division of Development and Alumni Relations. He also completed cancer research at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai for two summers.
The fourth-year student continues to pursue his passions through his majors — labor and human resources, Chinese and Asian studies. Most recently, Cedeño was a human resources intern at Pacific Investment Management Company LLC this summer.
Cedeño was able to participate in the internship because of the generosity of Penn State donors. He received funding 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. Cedeño was one of those students, and he used the funding to help with his move from his hometown of Mamaroneck, New York to Austin, Texas, where his internship took place.
“Austin is definitely a huge adjustment from central Pennsylvania and New York,” Cedeño said. “The Chapel funding that I received helped a lot with moving here. There are a lot of expenses that you don’t really think about coming into it, so the funding helped make my experience better and made it possible to do this internship this summer.”
During his internship, Cedeño worked on an executive talent research team as a human resources analyst. In this role, he aided in building prospect pools for executive-level positions that opened within the company. With this being his first human resources-specific internship, he felt fortunate to be able to network and learn more about this career field.
“We have intern events to be able to network with different people at the firm,” Cedeño said. “Networking and coffee chats have also been a huge part of being an intern and learning about the different career paths within the firm.”
Cedeño gained many new skills during his time at Pacific Investment Management Company LLC this summer. He said he is grateful that he had the opportunity to work at such a successful investment management firm and that the internship opened his eyes to something he looks forward to being a part of one day.
“Being able to work with a high-level group of people who are doing things that not every company is capable of doing is great exposure for me, as someone who wants to go into HR and work in the strategic realm,” said Cedeño.
At Penn State, Cedeño has been able to find mentors in his peers and previous bosses who have helped guide him through his time as an undergraduate. Cedeño said he’s learned the importance of saying yes, of trying new things, and of talking to as many people as possible.
“When you are working or at school, talk to the people around you and about how they got to where they are,” Cedeño said. “Doing this, I have been able to continue to build that network and find more people to talk to as well.”
Cedeño applies this mindset to his day-to-day life at Penn State. He holds leadership positions and is a member of many organizations, including the Lion Ambassadors and the Student Philanthropy Network. These experiences — combined with his latest internship — have helped him figure out his passions and decide on a future in human resources.
This is the fourth 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.