The idea of getting real experience in a laboratory made Corning Incorporated appealing to Rachel.

“Corning seemed like it was one of the few companies offering internships to chemical engineers that weren’t marketing or customer research-type positions,” said the native of central Pennsylvania. “Corning was the only one offering me an internship where I would actually be working in a lab.”

The current senior at Penn State spent her summer working in an electrochemistry lab that focuses on using electrochemical processes as solutions to Corning’s difficulties with production. Her main task? To see if she could alter the ionic composition of glass.

Rachel spent a second summer with Corning in 2014. Both internship experiences and the people she’s worked with helped her solve some indecision toward her future.

“A lot of full-time employees were more than willing to offer advice on full-time jobs and career paths,” she said. “Everyone had something slightly different to say, although it was all great advice.”

After graduation next spring, Rachel has a trip to England and Ireland planned with a couple of her friends. In her spare time, she immerses herself in nonfiction books.

“It’s probably not normal that I read biographies on old English monarchs for fun,” she said.