Students at Slippery Rock University have opportunities to establish a network and learn alongside professionals before they graduate. Victoria Mackalica and Emmalee Henthorn attended the American Society of Safety Professionals’ Professional Development Conference and Exposition, July 22-24, in Orlando, Florida.
Mackalica, from Butler (Butler HS), and Henthorn, from Slippery Rock (Slippery Rock HS), are both rising senior safety management majors who are members of the ASSP student section at SRU. Their travel expenses and conference registration were covered by SRU’s Safety Management Department, and they received internship credit hours for attending.
“This was a great opportunity to hear from other people from all over the country,” Mackalica said. “I learned from the sessions that I attended, and I got to network in the expo hall too. Overall, it was just a great experience.”
Attending the ASSP conference complemented Mackalica’s professional experiences this summer, as she is interning at Cleveland-Cliffs in the steel manufacturer’s Health and Safety Department. Part of her job is conducting training sessions with employees.
“I get to better understand safety through the boots on the ground instead of just in the classroom,” Mackalica said. “I’m learning how to talk to people and recognize certain safety hazards and I’m growing personally and professionally.”
More information about the safety management program at SRU is available on the department’s webpage. More information about ASSP is available at ASSP.org.
