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UC student balances online classes, internships outdoors
December 17, 2021
Sydney Mentrup, a senior University of Cincinnati environmental studies student, finished up her sixth internship with the National Park Service last September.
The program, which lasted over the summer months, brought her to Glacier National Park in Montana, about 2,000 miles from her hometown of Cincinnati. The palatial mountains, wildlife and crystal blue skies set the scene as she worked on site in Glacier and on completing her last classes in UC’s College of Arts & Sciences.
Across the country, there are 423 national park sites, spanning nearly all 50 states, and American territories such as Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. Mentrup has visited almost 250 of these parks and sites. As a student at Reading High School, Mentrup became involved with philanthropy work and community outreach, and volunteered at Newport Aquarium.