Bridgewater, Va. – Bridgewater College distributes awards every year to recognize those students who have participated in internships. The Showker Prize is named after Zane D. Showker, and is officially called the Showker Award for Internship Excellence. 

This year, there are three recipients of the award that will be recognized at the upcoming ceremony. 

“It’s one of the hardest things to do because so many students are doing wonderful internships,” said Director of Career Services and Internships Sherry Talbot. “We select three winners, and it’s based on their experience and what they learned about leadership.” 

Nominees write an essay to be considered for the Showker Prize. The developing essay consists of being reflective of their experience while interning. 

“The Showker Prize is an important award for the college to give out because it recognizes excellence, it recognizes students who have performed exceptionally well in their internships. It is also a way we can give them a reward of recognition,” said Talbot. “Bridgewater has a strong emphasis on leadership, it gives students a voice where they can talk about experience.” 

This year’s Showker Prize award recipients are Annabell Knapp, Rebekah Moyer and Stephanie Hintze. All three students have participated in internships where they were able to have leadership experiences. 

Moyer, class of 2021, completed her internship with Racey Engineering in Luray, Virginia. While Moyer was interning, she worked with human resources, finance and helped work on a payroll protection program. 

“The owner really gave me the opportunity to show what I could do for myself, but also for other members of the team,” said Moyer. “It really opened my eyes to what I can do as a leader and how I can use my degree.” 

Knapp, class of 2021, did her internship with START — the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. START is a research and education center at the University of Maryland, College Park. 

“My project was in partnership with the state department where we created various training modules with officials from foreign countries,” said Knapp. “I am interested in the study of terrorism, international relations and how to combat terrorism through non-violent means.”

Throughout Knapp’s internship, she was able to see what a leader looked like through her supervisor. Knapp gained team building skills as well as communication skills due to being remote and on zoom for the internship. 

“Something that I learned is that I can bring with me in the future is the connections I was able to build, the experiences they were able to provide outside of the program, and how we can use what we learned in other fields,” said Knapp. “My supervisor was a wonderful leader, she really showed me what good leadership should be.”

Hintze did not respond by the publication of this article. 

The recipients will receive a monetary award as well as recognition from the College. Student’s site supervisors receive an award as well for partnering with the BC and allowing these experiences and opportunities to happen. 

The Showker award ceremony will be held on Friday, March 5 at noon. The ceremony will be held on zoom and one can register to attend at https://bridgewater.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_07olfXRfQmBcywe.