How an IAR Student Landed a Job Before Graduation
Jessie Spoerndle ’24 is an undergraduate student in Chatham University’s interior architecture program. (Courtesy of Jessie Spoerndle)
When patients, nurses, and doctors step into the soon-to-be-open orthopedic surgery wing of WVU Medicine Uniontown Hospital, they’ll see a bit of Jessie Spoerndle ’24 in the details.
She visited the construction site when it was about halfway to completion, after helping with its schematic design, design development, and construction documents.
It was the first time she saw her work brought to life.
“It’s really exciting to know that you’re going to be making an impact on the people that are using your space,” she said.
Spoerndle, who’s in her final term studying interior architecture (IAR) at Chatham University, worked on the project as part of her ongoing internship with Stantec, the architecture and design firm.
What first enticed Spoerndle to join Chatham’s IAR program in the fall of 2020 was the flexibility it offered. Being able to “do anything with it” – becoming a sales rep, an interior designer, an architect – appealed to the recent high school graduate who was still finding her niche in the field.
But Chatham’s volleyball team, on which she played for four years as a setter, was also important to her. She was recruited by Coach Joe Bortak, and after speaking with some professors in the IAR program, she was pulled in by both the athletics and academics.
“It’s a smaller community, smaller school, so everyone kind of knows each other,” she said. “You’re going to find a lot of friends, and they’ll stick with you through the four years, which is something I really liked.”
As she continued through her program, Spoerndle’s interest in healthcare design grew. One of her professors, adjunct faculty member Lori Claus, reached out to her with an internship at UPMC, the healthcare giant, doing corporate construction and real estate.
That led to another internship at R3A Architecture, which allowed her to dive deeper into designing for hospitality and researching. But she found herself gravitating back towards medical planning, with its focus on technical problem-solving over aesthetics and decorating.
“I’m a firm believer that internships are super important in college and getting to know what you like and don’t like,” she said.
Chatham also helped Spoerndle familiarize herself with design software, such as AutoCAD and Revit, both of which she’s used at her internships.
Knowing she wanted to circle back to healthcare design, she applied to Stantec, where she started an internship in the summer of 2023. She started immediately on what she referred to as “billable work”— working on different hospitals for paying clients.
“I enjoy looking at the code book and trying to find a way to fix the puzzle that’s in front of me, rather than someone telling me, ‘Hey, go pick out a carpet and wall covering that look good together,’” she said.
When she graduates in spring, she plans on taking the job Stantec offered after she finishes the first part of her internship with them.
“I was offered a job after my initial internship ended,” she said. “We discussed prolonging my employment and continuing my internship during the school year, so that’s what I’ve been doing.”
But even before she starts her job there, she’ll get to see the final construction of the hospital wing she helped design—a major moment in a career that’s just getting started.
“A lot of my coworkers are saying how big of a moment it’s going to be for me,” she said. “I’m really excited for that.”
You can learn more about the opportunities available in Chatham University’s interior architecture degree at the program’s academic visit day on March 15, 2024.