Lauren Niemiera ’12 Named Slane College Intern of the Year

02/13/2012 4:42 PM

By Ivy Hillman ’12

Lauren Niemiera ’12 is this year’s Intern of the Year for the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts. The sports communication and Spanish major interned for Susan G. Komen for the Cure last summer and went beyond her assigned duties.

“Within the first two weeks of my internship with Susan G. Komen, I was inspired by my coworkers’ dedication to Komen’s mission, and I became passionately pink for the Cure,” said Niemeria, a member of the women’s basketball team.

At an LPGA event where she set up a Komen exhibit she designed, Niemiera talked with women about their breast cancer battles and decided to plan her own “pink” golf outing in her hometown of Orland Park.

The event, which took place last August at Silver Lake Country Club, brought together 125 amateur golfers and raised $10,000 for Komen. Niemiera secured hole sponsorships and donations from local businesses. She also arranged for speed painter Elliott From to paint live at the event and auction his paintings.

Still, Niemiera didn’t expect to win Intern of the Year, which the Smith Career Center awards annually to one student from each of Bradley’s five colleges.

“I did not expect to win because I know there are a lot of extremely motivated students at Bradley who had fantastic internship experiences this year as well,” Niemiera said. “I thought the one thing that set me apart is the extra effort I put into my internship with planning a gold outing of my own to raise additional funds, and then the event being such a huge success.”