Internship Interview - Meredith Moskwiak

Name: Meredith Moskwiak

Internship Location: Greenville, North Carolina

Organization: East Carolina University College of Health Education and Promotion

Responsibilities: For my internship, we are creating, planning, and conducting an environmental assessment of on-premise drinking establishments in uptown Greenville, NC. We are evidently going to be looking at certain environmental risk factors (pricing of drinks, special events/promotions, interior and exterior advertising, and protective behavioral strategies) that may directly or indirectly promote high-intensity drinking among youth and young adults. High-intensity drinking is defined as drinking twice beyond the binge drinking threshold, considerably 8+ drinks for women, and 10+ drinks for men. We are going to collect data qualitatively, and then be able to determine what risk factors promote high-intensity drinking, and what we may be able to implement in order to control this.

Advice to Upcoming Interns: Though it may seem intimidating, I would strongly suggest finding an internship that interests you and your career aspirations. Research has become a critical passion of mine, and I do not think I would enjoy my internship as much if the criteria was not relevant to me. I would also advise to put your best foot forward and begin your internship with a positive attitude and professional work ethic. This internship opportunity has been incredible so far, and I am extremely grateful for it because it is providing me with real world experience and it is thoroughly exposing me to a professional work environment. I would also recommend keeping a daily journal of the activities for that given day, because I have found that this makes the weekly journal reports much easier to complete when it is already written down.

About Meredith Moskwiak: I was born and raised in Westchester, New York, and I think I will always be a big city person at heart. I enjoy spending time with my family, friends, and dogs, which is where I believe my passion for helping others stems from. Public health is an everchanging field with new challenges and experiences that arise every day. I am truly grateful for my past 4 years at ECU and everything I have learned here. I am planning to attend graduate school in September to begin my MPH degree.