For well over a decade, Rowland Hall’s internship program has introduced upper schoolers to professional fields and given them a closer look at potential careers.

Made possible by community partners who welcome students into their workplaces, these internships give participants the chance to work side by side with professionals, drawing on what they’ve learned in school while taking on meaningful work themselves—whether that’s measuring arterial length on an MRI, formatting an answer to a complicated legal complaint, or dissecting mosquito larvae through a microscope (all tasks completed by Rowland Hall interns in summer 2026).

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And while all internships are beneficial, some can be transformative.

That’s definitely true for senior Elayna Hoglund, who before this summer felt strongly she wanted to go into pediatric nursing, specializing in pulmonology. Now she knows for sure.

“I first wanted to be a pulmonologist, but didn’t love all aspects of that job,” said Elayna when asked what drew her to nursing. “I really want to be a caregiver.”

I really want to be a caregiver.—Elayna Hoglund, class of 2027

Elayna became interested in pulmonology, the field of medicine that focuses on the lungs, after hearing a campus speaker discuss pediatric asthma. That experience inspired her to do additional research on the topic, as well as enroll in the Upper School’s Human Anatomy and Physiology class. That’s where she learned about cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder, typically diagnosed by age 2, that causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and other organs, affecting breathing and digestion.

“I found it fascinating,” Elayna remembered, and she continued to research the disorder, including speaking to a friend who works as a pediatric nurse practitioner specializing in cystic fibrosis.

Realizing she may have found her dream career, Elayna then approached Rowland Hall’s internship program manager, Dr. Laura Johnson, about doing a nursing internship to further explore the field. As luck would have it, Dr. Johnson had recently been introduced to Aaron Enz, community engagement manager for the University of Utah’s College of Nursing, who was interested in establishing a partnership between the schools. Aaron was thrilled to welcome Elayna as his first intern, and he generously provided her with a list of more than 50 University of Utah Health employees who were willing to host her as she built an understanding of what it’s really like to work in nursing.

“It was my job to contact them, find times to meet them, and create my dream experience,” Elayna said—and she went all in. During her four-week internship, Elayna interviewed and shadowed more than 15 nurses, nurse practitioners, nurse managers, pediatric nurse practitioners, and doctors of nursing practice in a variety of departments, including pulmonology.

While Elayna had been told not to expect a clinical experience, she was delighted to learn that, due to her age and immunization status, the internship could be partially clinical. (For a high schooler, this means observing a licensed nurse in a clinical setting, with a patient’s permission and under strict patient-privacy requirements.) Thanks to the generosity of her mentors, Elayna also fulfilled some of her top wishes for her internship: experiencing a 12-hour shift, spending time at a Spanish-speaking clinic, and completing emergency response simulations.

I can’t wait to be a nurse who sees the highs, and lows, and celebratory moments of families.

“Every single day, every single hour, I had an opportunity I wanted to grab onto and take advantage of,” Elayna said.

As a result, she’s starting senior year, and her final stretch of the college admission process, confident in her goal of becoming a nurse, and, one day, a doctor of nursing practice. And Elayna’s more excited than ever to be a caregiver for those living with cystic fibrosis, especially as new advancements emerge. One area she’s watching particularly closely, she shared, is CFTR modulators, medications that target the underlying protein defect that causes cystic fibrosis and are dramatically changing outcomes for people with the disease.

“I can’t wait to see this improvement in actual kids’ lives, and to be a nurse who sees the highs, and lows, and celebratory moments of families,” said Elayna.

Want to hear more about our students’ summer 2026 internship experiences? Join us at the fall Impact Summit on Thursday, October 8, where interns will present posters highlighting their work and reflections.

Our deepest gratitude to the generous community partners who made it possible for 13 rising juniors and seniors to participate in 11 internships in summer 2026:

• Biomechanics and human performance (The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital)
• Cardiac recovery (Drakos Clinical and Research Team, University of Utah)
• Conservation biology (Dr. Austin Green, University of Utah)
• Law (McNeill Von Maack)
• Marketing and communications (YMCA of Northern Utah)
• Neurobiology and anatomy (Williams Lab, University of Utah)
• Neurobiology of social states (Zelikowsky Lab, University of Utah)
• Nursing (University of Utah College of Nursing)
• Radiology and imaging sciences (Prigge Lab, University of Utah)
• STEM education and exhibit design (Utah STEM Action Center)
• Vector biology (Salt Lake City Mosquito Abatement District)