Caryn Donohue An externship experience at Pfizer, Inc. in New York City gave Caryn Donohue of Garden City a look at some of the opportunities awaiting her outside the walls of Lafayette College.

Donohue, a psychology major and government and law minor, spent two days with Vincent J. Petitto '89, manager of customer operations. She not only learned about Petitto's job responsibilities, she also met with several of his colleagues to talk about other types of jobs at the pharmaceutical firm.

Donohue is a 2002 graduate of Garden City High School and is the daughter of William Donohue of Mineola and Valerie Donohue of Garden City.

Donohue was among more than 200 Lafayette students who gained first-hand knowledge of the professional world in January. They served externships with alumni and other experienced professionals in business, the arts, education, healthcare, law, engineering, science, government, non-profits, and other fields. The students observed work practices, learned about careers they may consider entering after college, and developed professional networking contacts.

"When I was a student, the real world was sort of a scary and mysterious place and it still seems like that to me sometimes," Pettito says. "So I try to give the students a sense of what's out there, the types of things people do with their lives."

For Donohue, who is still unsure of what career she would like to pursue, the externship was a very eye-opening experience.

"I grew up thinking that the only jobs out there were teachers, doctors, and lawyers and this experience showed me a little bit about how businesses work," she explains. "I am interested in health care in general, which is why I wanted to see what Pfizer was all about, so I was just happy to see what goes on there."

Donohue's time at Pfizer included having directors of several departments review her resume and talk about career goals. The diversity of job positions Pettito exposed to her was exactly the sort of externship experience Donohue wanted, she says.

"Vincent went out of his way and asked people in different departments if they would work with me, even his own boss," Donohue explains. "He just wanted to give me a little taste of everything, which was exactly what I was looking for, just a little introduction to everything and he was dead on. I think he understood that and he really put a lot of time into making that happen."

The value of what Donohue learned is immeasurable, Pettito says.

"It becomes very apparent, when I'm interviewing students, who has had some experience in the real world and who has only been working at The Gap or the local pool," he explains. "A corporate environment is a very different world and even a couple of days of exposure gives them the confidence in going back out there -- even those few days gives them a lot to talk about during an interview."

Donohue co-chairs Lafayette Activities Forum, oversees two volunteer programs at Lafayette's Landis Community Outreach Center, supervises the College's phonathon, and is a member of Alpha Pi sorority and Marquis Players, a student group that produces an annual musical to benefit charity. She is also a Trustee Scholar. She graduated from Garden City High School.

Selected from among Lafayette's top applicants, Trustee Scholars have distinguished themselves through exceptional academic achievement in high school. They receive from Lafayette an annual minimum scholarship of $7,500 (totaling $30,000 over four years) or a grant in the full amount of their demonstrated need if the need is more than $7,500.