Viddhi Kerai began her internship at Prisma Health ophthalmology clinical hoping her mentors would open her eyes to the world of vision care. By the end of the summer, the University of South Carolina senior emerged not only with better insight into the field, but with knowledge from three specialty clinics, a sharper ability to communicate and skyrocketing confidence for working with real patients.  

She also learned that she is exactly where she was meant to be. Her internship supervisors agreed, and they offered her an internship for her senior year followed by a full-time job offer when she graduates in May. 

“Having them offer me a position means they trust my abilities and see me as a valuable member of the department, which is an amazing feeling. It shows that the hard work, long hours of learning and effort I put into mastering the clinic’s workflow made a real impact on the team,” Kerai said. 

As a biology major in the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences, she was one of the first students to receive the McCausland Internship Scholarship. Led by McCausland College’s new Career Studio, the scholarship program allowed 22 undergraduates to complete paid internships in fields including government, publishing, environmental research, health care and public media. Kerai’s success was not an outlier, either. More than a half the interns received offers to continue their paid internships. 

The Career Studio, created as part of a transformational gift from Bonnie and Peter McCausland and the McCausland Foundation, brings career development directly into the academic home of McCausland College students while connecting them with university-wide resources.  

Ashley Byrd-White, director of career readiness and experiential learning for McCausland College, shared why it’s important for students from all majors to start preparing for post-graduation success throughout their college experience.  

“Research tells us how important internships are for graduates on the job market and for advancement down the road. Having more support and resources like the McCausland Internship Program helps students gain confidence in their ability to translate their experience to the workforce and make invaluable connections to their academics and internship experience," Byrd-White said. 

For Kerai, those connections included taking patient histories, recognizing different eye conditions and learning to distinguish when someone may need more specialized care. 

Built-in Career Prep 

The McCausland College is USC's largest and most academically diverse college, with more than 10,000 students, 38 majors and 68 minors. Part of the college’s mission is to show its students that their major does not determine a single career path. Rather, arts and sciences students pursue a wide variety of careers and often change careers thanks to flexible skillsets. Critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity enable them to transfer across any number of career fields. 

In the Career Studio, internships, relationship-building and coaching provide opportunities for students to demonstrate those capabilities in professional environments. Summer employers gave the McCausland Interns high marks for skills that translate across careers, rating them an average of 3.92 out of 4 for communication, 3.89 for critical thinking and 3.69 for leadership, describing the students as professional and hardworking. 

“Everything we do in the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences prepares students for success as they pursue and begin their careers. The McCausland Internship Scholarship takes this commitment a step further,” Chris Culberson, dean of the McCausland College of Arts and Sciences, said. “Our students in this program showed that what we do in the classroom prepares them to think critically, communicate well, collaborate on teams and solve problems creatively. The Career Studio will continue to help students connect these vital skills to career opportunities.” 

Internships are just one way the Career Studio prepares students for success post-graduation. Hundreds of arts and sciences students have received career services at the studio since it opened its doors this fall. They’ve met faculty mentors who help connect their classroom experiences with their academic and professional goals.  

Career Studio coaches hold dedicated drop-in hours for McCausland students, also offering workshops that can be completed between classes, career assessments, resume-writing support and help searching for internships and career opportunities. 

The studio also connects employers directly with arts and sciences students. Employers share internships and early-career opportunities, connect with specific majors, departments or student organizations, visit classes and host job shadows and site visits. In addition to helping students discover opportunities, these connections help employers build their talent pipelines. 

Employer recruiting and internship scholarships are just the start of what the Career Studio has planned to help McCausland College students succeed in their careers as early as year one.  

For students like Kerai, the payoff has already begun to take focus. 

“It gave me a clearer perspective on why what I'm learning in class matters, which has made me even more motivated in my coursework,” she said. “Career-wise, it solidified my desire to pursue medicine. Seeing how specialized care directly improves patients’ quality of life showed me the exact kind of physician I want to become in the future.”