Summer Interns Don't Just WADE in the Water
07/01/09« Back
After finishing up orientation on Friday, June 26, 2009, the summer interns were set afloat. After meeting their appointed staff member and finding their desk, Human Resources treated them to lunch and a unique tour of Pittsburgh.
In order to get to know the ever-changing city in which they will reside for the coming months, a normal tour just would not do. Instead we waddled, after a filling lunch, on a duck, a DUKW boat that is. Ducks are restored 2.5-ton, six-wheel amphibious trucks that were used during World War II to carry supplies from large boats to land. Like live ducks, they have the ability to move easily over both land and water (which we did). The name Duck comes from an acronym created by the code letters the military used for its vehicles: DUKW. On the DUKW we first traveled through the business district passing local government buildings and many of the city’s eight Fortune 500 headquarters. Then, we learned some interesting facts about our historic Allegheny County Courthouse as well as the tallest building in Pittsburgh, the U.S. Steel Tower. After that, we hit The Cultural District, which houses The Benedum Center for the Performing Arts a beautiful building both inside and out. Additionally, The Cultural District is where we were invited to participate in a gallery crawl through 22 of the district’s galleries on Friday, July 17, 2009.
Finally, we stopped at Heinz Field, home to the six-time Super Bowl winners, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and PNC Park, home to the Pittsburgh Pirates, one of the two teams to play in the very first World Series. Here we watched the sunset on one of the most beautiful skylines in the world according to USA Today, a perfect ending to a perfect day, with a clear head to get to work on Monday.
Written by Patrick Kirsch, a student at Dennison University.