Chris Yearwood ’23 of Red Hook, N.Y., a Business graduate student at Mount Saint Mary College, took his passion for sports and turned it into a career with the NBA. Before that, he interned with the New York Yankees. He’s seen here playing Division III basketball as an undergraduate at the Mount.
Two Mount Saint Mary College student-athletes recently put what they’ve learned in the classroom – and on the court – into practice at a pair of prestigious internships.
Chris Yearwood ’23 of Red Hook, N.Y., a Business graduate student at the Mount, played Division III Basketball with the Knights for several seasons as an undergrad – and now he works as a Stats Auditor with the National Basketball Association (NBA) at their headquarters in Secaucus, N.J.
But before he began his new career, Yearwood enjoyed a valuable internship with the New York Yankees.
Sports are in Yearwood’s blood. Last May, he graduated from the Mount with a degree in Sports Management and now he’s working on his MBA at the college, too. During the summer in between, he interned as a Guest Relations Ambassador for all the Yankees’ home games and other events held at Yankee stadium. His duties included interacting with fans, providing directions, and manning the phonelines when the team was on the road.
“I learned about all the different aspects and operations that go into producing a professional live sporting event,” Yearwood explained. “I also learned how awesome it is to work in an environment where my job revolves around [sports]. It was an experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world.”
That internship, coupled with his Mount education, gave him the skills he needed to land his NBA job. As a Stats Auditor, Yearwood audits play-by-play statistics during games and notifies in-arena statisticians of changes that need to be made.
“The Mount does an incredible job of preparing students for life after college and providing them with an understanding of what it takes to make it in the real world,” said Yearwood. “I am forever grateful of all the lessons and memories I have gained from my professors, coaches, teammates, and friends.”
He added, “The internships that are provided at Mount Saint Mary College are one of the best things that the school does for its students, because it gives students ways to get experience that they can put on their résumé, while also attaining college credits.”
The Career Center is often credited by Mount grads for providing powerful, proven, and practical tools to help shape their post-graduate portfolio. More than just a student program, the Career Center gives students and alumni lifelong tools for success and advancement. For students whose coursework requires an internship, or for those looking to experience jobs in their field, the Career Center is an invaluable resource.
Another athlete at the Mount, swimmer Jackson Lerner of Bayside, N.Y., spent his summer taking care of patients at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, N.Y.
Burke invites top Nursing students to their campus for a 10-week summer externship, in which the students work alongside Burke’s nursing team. Lerner was one of only 10 students who was welcomed into the program this year. He shadowed Burke nurses for some of the experience, and for the rest, he cared for his own list of patients.
“I had to take the responsibility,” explained the senior Nursing student. “But for the time I was on my own, I had to know how to transfer the patients, which ones needed help with basic tasks, and a lot more of the day to day stuff.”
As a Swim Team captain, the college’s athletics program helped Lerner to build the time management and leadership skills he needed to succeed in his career, he said.
He added that he “loved the idea of working at a rehabilitation hospital and wanted to help patients…get back on their feet. It prepared me more for my career.”
Lerner knew from an early age that he wanted to be a nurse. At five years old, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and spent a lot of time in the hospital. Lerner appreciated the wonderful way the nurses treated him, and he vowed to do the same.
At Burke, he kept his promise.
“You build a relationship with the patients,” Lerner said. “On my floor, the average stay was two weeks. I got to really make a bond with these patients, really get to know them.”