ATLANTA - Off-campus internships have Oglethorpe University seniors Nate Blong and Robert Pavelka, Jr., back to campus. They are interning for companies chosen to design and build Oglethorpe’s new residence halls.

Blong, from Panama City, Florida, is in Oglethorpe’s dual-degree engineering program with Georgia Tech and plays on Oglethorpe’s basketball team. An outstanding student, Blong is interning on the residence hall construction project through the architectural firm Gardner Spencer Smith Tench & Hensley and liaising with their engineering subcontractors. “I sat in on all the planning meetings and made corrections to the plans so that the architects could just focus on designing. After graduation I hope to get a job in structural engineering,” said Blong.

Pavelka, a business major from Jacksonville, Florida, owned a boat dock construction, repair and renovation company along the St. John's River and also served as an assistant site manager for construction companies during high school. He currently plays on Oglethorpe’s baseball team at third base and as catcher. Pavelka is working as an intern with Richmond Sterling, Oglethorpe's contracted construction project management company.

The university broke ground on two new apartment-style residence halls on August 4 at 4:00 p.m. The new $10 million, 148-bed residence halls will have a traditional granite façade to match Oglethorpe’s unique collegiate Gothic style. Juneau Construction Company began work on August 1, and the buildings will be completed in time for students to move in next fall.