Hartwick Student Lands Coveted Corning Internship
Sometimes, as Adrianna Montenegro '26 learned, your passion finds you.
“I came to Hartwick with the idea of being a nurse,” she said. “But the path changed, and now I’m happier with the path I’m going down.”
Montenegro, a double major in public health and political science, has accepted a paid summer internship in the Occupational Health and Safety office at the Corning Inc. facility in Oneonta. She will work on-site, ensuring that occupational safety and health administration (OSHA) protocols are followed for safety, hearing and eyesight protection at the multinational glass, ceramics, and optical materials company.
This focus on work-site safety started with a conversation with her father while home for a break in Houston, Texas. “I was brainstorming different ideas for what I wanted to do,” she said. “I still wanted to be in the healthcare field, but then my dad mentioned that a friend of his is a safety officer at an oil plant. That sparked my interest.”
Montenegro worked alongside Osa Mede, Hartwick’s occupational health and safety manager, in the two-credit on-campus OSHA internship that Mede supervises. She enjoyed the experience and browsed Handshake to try and find a second internship for the summer. It was there that Montenegro saw the listing for an internship with Corning. “Originally, the listings were for their plants in Maine and the Carolinas,” she said. “But when I applied, those were no longer open and they offered me Oneonta instead!”
The paid internship also comes with housing and transportation assistance. When she returns for her senior year, Montenegro will work on her OSHA construction and chemical hygiene officer certifications.
“Hartwick gives me so many opportunities to get these certifications on campus. This means I’ll go into my field knowing more about what I’m passionate about doing.”
Adrianna Montenegro '26
Public Health and Political Science Double Major
