Reflections Magazine Issue #77 - Fall 2012 | Page 11

Campus Feature
Swoish said she does not allow her visual
impairment to have an effect on her success.
Late last year she applied for an internship
geared especially for disabled students.
“I was notified in February that I had been
accepted,” she said. “Then I was interviewed
twice for placement purposes. Because of my
interest in criminal justice, I was placed with
a lobbyist group in (Washington) D.C. I was
involved with the Walmart (in) federal government relations. I was their only intern.”
She had the opportunity to lunch with
congressmen, assisted on a lobbying team,
attended a congressional hearing, conducted
important research and attended fundraisers.
Swoish also had a large role in a project determining the hiring policies for ex-offenders
(anyone with a criminal record).
Her mentor during the internship was a
congressional spouse.
“She was really nice to work with,” Swoish
said. She was best friends with (Republican
vice presidential candidate) Paul Ryan and she
was able to give me and my parents a tour of
the White House. I got to go twice!”
She said the internship has opened many
doors for her.
“Before, I really wanted to go into law. But
now I want to move to D.C. when I graduate
and maybe do more in lobbying, perhaps
something in political science. The internship
was the best experience of my life,” she said.
As if that were not remarkable enough,
Swoish is a tutor in the SHU Writing Center.
She started a group on campus her freshman
year called Adopt a Sister.

“I believed that since these women (Adrian
Dominican Sisters) are the founders of the
school, it would be wonderful to have some
interaction between them and the students,”
she said of the Adopt a Sister group. “Last year
we visited about 27 Sisters. I just wish there
was someone to take it over when I graduate.”
Swoish has also entered numerous art
competitions, and has had her art – mainly
macro photography and graphic design—
exhibited in Australia, the U.S. Capitol building,
on billboards in Florida, Pennsylvania and all
over Michigan.
Swoish has a blog recounting her internship
at www.aapdinterns.blogspot.com.

Going Places
Another student who has carved out a
successful presence on campus is Vijay Caplon.
Most everyone on the Adrian campus has
seen him in the lower level of the Science
Building zooming in and out of classrooms
and hallways in his electric wheelchair. But not
many, according to Caplon, have really gotten
to know him.
“I’m actually kind of a private person,” he
said. “You can’t get much out of me.”
Caplon, who has very limited use of his
arms and legs, is a second-year senior math
major and transfer student from Jackson Community College. When he graduates, he hopes
to go into law,