It may be a normal semester for returning Waynesburg University faculty and students, but for WVU graduate intern Robert Hillard, this semester represents anything but familiarity. Hillard started his internship Monday, Jan. 15, the same day classes resumed for the spring semester and he will intern through this spring semester and 2018 fall semester.

His internship is a requirement for the doctorate degree in sports and exercise psychology as well as a master’s degree for counseling he is working towards in the West Virginia University graduate program.

Before attending West Virginia University, Hillard graduated from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he is originally from.

Despite his distant location, Hillard found Waynesburg University primarily because his friend,  Zenzi Huysman, completed her internship at Waynesburg as well and loved it.

Additionally, Hillard finds himself drawn to smaller environments and areas with lots of connections, which helped him solidify the decision of coming to Waynesburg for the internship.

For this specific position, Waynesburg University’s Counseling Center actively recruits interns with a specialization in sports psychology, so Hillard knew he would receive ample opportunity to exercise his learned skills.

In fact, West Virginia University’s psychology graduate program has had someone consistently intern with Waynesburg’s Counseling Center for around 10 years.

Despite being at Waynesburg for only a week, Hillard is already “very impressed with the university as a whole,” especially the high level of involvement among the students and the number of roles adopted by all those working in the
counseling center.

After the internship, he has one more semester at WVU for his Ph.D.

At this moment, Hillard has no concrete outline for life after school, but he knows he wants to find a home somewhere in the North-East section of the U.S.

Director of the Counseling Center Jane Owen took part in selecting Hillard as the Counseling Center’s newest intern. She has expressed excitement at the prospect of the department’s new intern and the additional assistance now available for students.

While Hillard interns at Waynesburg, he will offer the same style of personal counseling sessions offered by Waynesburg University’s full-time counselors as well as specialization in sports psychology mental skills work: confidence, motivation and performance. Hillard said that his goals revolve around three main things.

“Helping people grow and discover themselves, discover how you can thrive and live your best life, and if by the end [of the internship] one person walks out of here and feels like they found themselves a little more, that can go a really long way,” said Hillard.

“[Athletes] might really struggle to focus at practice or it’s getting late in the season and they’re bored or they notice they get the jitters before a game, that’s all stuff I’m trained to work in,” Hillard said. “You train physically to be the best you can be, and this side is you train mentally to make yourself better.”

He said that sports psychology applies to more than typical sports such as baseball or soccer.  In reality, his specialty revolves around visualization, goal setting and getting the most out of any sort of performance which aids musicians, dancers, actors or even student speakers.

“That is what I’m here for and that is what I enjoy doing,” Hillard said of his role on campus.