Dane Checolinski’s email, sent to Lakeland College President Dan Eck and Director of External Relations David Gallianetti, contained glowing praise for senior Gaby Cappaert.
Checolinski, the director of the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation, was extremely pleased with Cappaert, who interned at the SCEDC from October through December.
“I just wanted to say ‘Thank You’ for recommending Gaby as an intern for the SCEDC,” Checolinski’s email began. “If I had an open job, I would have hired her today … she is another example of the quality students Lakeland College is capable of producing.”
Cappaert, a senior business management major from Stephenson, Mich., has exceled at two internships during her time at Lakeland. Her first one, last year, was at St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan.
“They both provided very good opportunities,” she says. “I learned a lot and met a lot of great people.”
Though she doesn’t have a “dream job” in mind yet, Cappaert enjoys research and analytics, skills she honed and used extensively at both internships.
Cappaert was drawn to Lakeland by the college’s “smaller feel, the close-knit family atmosphere and, of course, basketball,” says the versatile student-athlete. “These four years flew by. Keeping busy made the time go by faster.”
As she prepares to graduate, Cappaert offers a bit of advice to the students coming up behind her.
“Take advantage of all the opportunities Lakeland offers,” she says. “They are out there. And don’t be afraid to work hard. It will pay off.”