The Department of Health Sciences is pleased to introduce our next featured student, Jack Bastien. Bastien is a safety major from Chicago who chose to attend Illinois State for our safety program. Before attending school, Bastien had worked in construction. He found safety interesting because it allowed him to be involved in the construction process in a different way than working with tools.
Bastien completed an internship over the summer, where he worked as a safety coordinator for Holder Construction. During his internship, he assisted with safety inspections, led “Stretch N’ Flex” programs each morning, and conducted weekly safety meetings.
“I learned so much and saw so many different activities all on the same site, in such a short length of time, which allowed me to see how safety applies to all different activities,” Bastien said. “I was able to learn and take information from outstanding safety personnel that I will continue to build on with my education and future experience. I learned how to apply standards out in the field and was able to work on an OSHA partnership job that gave me experience that is hard to come by.”
Bastien’s work during his internship was highly regarded by the company employees as well as his supervisors. “Jack’s work ethic is excellent and he shows great promise as a future leader,” wrote Casey Kelly, Holder Construction’s superintendent.
Kelley was happy to say that he extended Holder’s offer for an internship for the following summer and looks forward to having the opportunity to work with Bastien again. In the future, Bastien sees himself working in the construction industry doing safety, as well as moving into the construction management side of the industry.
Bastien’s advice to future student is to find a major that you like and follow it. “Do not let someone force you into a career or program that you don’t want to pursue, otherwise you will not be happy and that will make school more difficult than it has to be.”
Thanks, Jack, for being part of the Safety program at Illinois State!
Safety faculty member Tom Fuller nominated Bastien for his exceptional performance during his internship in Chicago.
