ABOVE: Benjamin Moeller discusses his internship at Weigh-Tronix during the Intern Recognition event on Thursday at Best Western in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT – At the culmination of their internships, local young adults presented what they had learned and taken away from their experience at the Intern Recognition event on Thursday.

The program is conducted in cooperation between Martin County, Minnesota Valley Action Council (MVAC) and the South Central Workforce Council. This year, 14 college students from Martin County were chosen for a variety of workplaces, including physical therapy, nursing, marketing and accounting.

For the first time ever in the program, an intern was chosen to work in the Martin County Administration office. Andrew Haefner currently goes to Minnesota State – Mankato, majoring in Political Science. He graduated from Fairmont High School in 2024. He worked with County Coordinator Scott Higgins and 18 departments/offices within the county system.

“I got to go to smaller and more department-oriented meetings, like going to a soil and water meeting,” Haefner said. “I learned what an assessor does and how property is valued with the assessor’s office. Got to go over to Truman and experience what they take into account when they measure how much a property is worth. I assisted in budget meetings for the different departments for 2026.”

By getting to experience so many areas of county government, Haefner said he had one major takeaway.

“I was thinking the different offices worked separately, but they came together to form the county,” he said. “But a lot of them work and overlap with one another. They actively provide each other with resources and necessary things they need to accomplish their goals.”

Looking over everything he was able to do, Haefner said the internship was very beneficial to him.

“I’ve been able to learn all about the different parts of our county government when previously I knew very little,” he said. “I’m someone that’s always been very interested in politics. I always cared about learning about the state and federal level, but I never truly understood how the local government works.”

Martin Luther High School graduate and Augustana University student Sutton Bohlsen entered his internship at Mayo Clinic’s Physical Therapy section to compare dual task training to conventional physical therapy.

“I have a special interest in neurological-based therapy,” he said. “This is due to my grandfather and his Parkinson’s journey I’ve gotten to watch over the last few years. It has impacted me and sparked my passion for the field. With this in mind, I asked myself, ‘Could one therapy method be more effective with these individuals?'”

Dual task therapy involves doing either two motor tasks or a motor and cognitive task simultaneously. Bohlsen said doing these tasks is no walk in the park.

“This could involve standing on a balance ball while passing a ball back and forth,” he said. “You’re doing two motor tasks. Side-stepping over cones or hurdles while counting backwards by threes. The motor task is stepping over, and you’re doing a cognitive process by counting backwards by threes, which is a lot harder than it sounds.”

But by training these skills, Bohlsen said the goal is to improve balance, coordination and cognitive processing. He said this contrasts with conventional physical therapy, which is generally single-task motor activities like dumbbells or resistance bands for legs.

During his internship, Bohlsen said he enjoyed aiding patients in the rehabilitation process.

“In physical therapy, you get the chance to work with patients multiple times a week,” he said. “Just in my short time there, I feel like I had a great relationship with them, and I was excited to see them each day.”

As for his hypothesis, Bohlsen said he was able to come to a conclusion from his work in the internship.

“I’ve learned that therapy calls for a lot of innovation, especially with how complex neurological diseases can be,” he said. “Dual task training should not replace conventional PT, but it can only enhance it, which is what you need. You need effective therapy, and this internship gave me the chance to contribute in ways that felt creative, personal, and purposeful.”

The full list of interns includes Anna Busche at Lakeview Healthcare Center, Kate Busche at Blue Stone Therapy, Kari Matejka at UHD, Amanda Potter and Aiden Nelson at Easy Automation, Max Olson at Integrated Services, Brock Lutterman at Profinium Bank, Aden Welcome at Becker Financial, Benjamin Moeller at Avery Weigh-Tronix, Brianna Morrow at Pierce Accounting, Mandy Pytleski at Great Plains Transportation and Kyler Wolters at Fairmont Opera House.

After the selected individuals discussed their internships, the event wrapped up with networking. Some of them were internship program participants. These included 2019 intern Kenlie Maday, who specialized in teaching LinkedIn skills, and 2025 intern Aden Welcome, who discussed employee benefits.