York College Senior Among Chosen Few to Intern at FBI
Posted November 29, 1999FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
York, Pennsylvania--Few people, let alone college undergraduates, have an opportunity to interact with Louis J. Freeh, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). York College senior Becky Yurko had that opportunity on a number of occasions this summer.
Yurko was one of 121 students selected from a national applicant pool of more than 7,000 to participate in the Honors Internship Program at the FBI. While involved in the 11-week program, Yurko was selected by her peers as the class president, which enabled her to speak to Director Freeh at the luncheon honoring the class, as well as provide regular updates on the class accomplishments.
Yurko was the only undergraduate from any college in Pennsylvania to participate in the program, and one of only four interns to be offered part-time work with the FBI upon completion of the internship program.
During her stint with the Audit Unit of the Inspection Division, the Accounting major conducted financial, financial-related and electronic data processing audits on a continuous basis. She also had the opportunity to work with the SWAT Team, the Hostage Rescue Team, fugitive publicity and participated on the set of FOX-TV's "America's Most Wanted." In addition, Yurko investigated hidden money and assisted in interpreting German bank accounts. Spending a summer crawling through airshafts, helping locate fugitives, playing hostage and working on undercover investigations all sound like segments from an action movie, but to Yurko, it's an investment she hopes will pay off.
"It's a lifetime dream to become a special agent," Yurko said. "This internship program successfully helped me in moving forward toward that goal. I find it interesting to discover what makes people tick, and you get to understand a broad variety of people and how to interact with them."
"I was shocked, I never expected 120 students to choose me as the one to represent the class," Yurko continued. "I tried to be as friendly as possible, but I didn't think taking the leadership part of the training seriously would get me that position. They are always asking, `who's going to be first to do this,' and I tried not to be afraid to go for it."
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