Environmental, Safety and Occupational Health Management Major
Hometown: Oak Harbor, Ohio
   
Brian Ceraldi knew he wanted to major in environmental, safety and occupational health management after watching a presentation at Oak Harbor High School by Harold Huffman, program manager for UF’s School of Environmental and Emergency Management (SEEM).

“It instantly appealed to me,” said Ceraldi. “I walked out the doors that day and decided that’s what I want to do. Findlay was the only place I applied.”

And once he arrived at UF, Ceraldi took full advantage of the diverse opportunities presented to him. “Findlay is uncommonly diverse for being a small private school in the Midwest,” he said. “I’ve learned to keep an open mind in order to take advantage of whatever opportunities present themselves.”

In summer 2006, Ceraldi participated in the Kake Bridge program, which introduced him to the Japanese culture and UF’s Japanese program. That experience led to an opportunity for Ceraldi to complete an internship in spring 2007.

With only one semester of formal Japanese language training, Ceraldi traveled alone to an area north of Tokyo and worked as a junior employee for Sanoh Industrial, which has a partner company in Findlay. His primary role was to expose the Japanese employees to a Western dialect and the general characteristics of a Westerner because many of the employees would eventually spend some time working in the United States.

Ceraldi worked on the factory floor and later in an engineering office, working with a variety of departments and people. In the evenings, he taught English classes.

Then, in fall 2007, Ceraldi completed an internship with Marathon Oil Co.’s refining division in Detroit. He assisted with the health and safety department, preparing for and completing assignments related to an upcoming upgrade and audit. Ceraldi continued working for Marathon’s Terminal, Transport and Marine division in the summer of 2008.

During the semesters he was taking classes, Ceraldi worked with SEEM on several occasions. He and several other students assisted with threat vulnerability assessments of school systems and helped facilitate tabletop exercises at several institutions.

Ceraldi says that although his degree is not in security and threat assessment, it’s a nice complement to his studies.
 
Ceraldi also had the experience this year of attending the Presidential Inauguration in January through the University Presidential Inaugural Conference. When he accepted the invitation to participate, the presidential candidates had not yet been selected, but Ceraldi says he went for non-political reasons. “It was purely for the experience. I have no regrets.”

In addition to witnessing the historic inauguration, Ceraldi participated in lectures and debates. Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State, and Tucker Carlson, MSNBC’s senior campaign correspondent, were among the guest speakers. And although there was another group from UF in Washington, D.C., at the time, Ceraldi was the only UF representative in his group.

“The opportunities that have been presented to me from different perspectives at UF have been great,” said Ceraldi. “I was in the environmental program and still able to do something with the Japanese program. We’re such a tight-knit community that it was possible. I don’t think that exists too many other places.”