“I knew that whatever I was going to do, I wanted it to be something that felt meaningful.”
Sarah Wichael ’02 knew she wanted to work in marketing or communications but didn’t know what field until her internship through Bridgewater College.
The BC alum was a member of the second graduating class in the new-at-the-time communication studies major. She is now the Marketing Strategy Lead for Sentara Health’s northwest region, which includes hospitals in Harrisonburg, Charlottesville and Northern Virginia.
“I work with each hospital on their goals for growth, whether it’s a new physician office or a hospital-based service,” Wichael said.
However, her journey towards this success began over 20 years ago during Wichael’s last two years at BC. Wichael completed two media and marketing internships where she had the opportunity to explore what kind of fields interested her most.
First, she did a internship through the Harrisonburg-based television station WHSV-TV3 where she worked with the commercials team. While she did not stay in that sector for long, she appreciated this opportunity to narrow down her interests.
“I knew I did not want to do journalism,” Wichael said about her time with the local television station. “But I wanted to explore and figure out what it was I did want to do.”
Continuing the search for the best field, she pursued another internship, this time in healthcare, an area of marketing and communications which turned out to be meaningful to her. Dr. Melanie Laliker, now the chair of BC’s Department of Communication Studies and Theatre, set her up with an internship at Rockingham Memorial Hospital (now Sentara RMH Medical Center) where she discovered her passion for working in healthcare.
“I did the internship with the hospital, and I loved it,” she recalled.
Wichael said the small size of the communications program at BC helped her receive personalized guidance, which led to her positive internship experience.
“At the hospital they had me just doing a little bit of this and that, I got to meet with different departments, I got to work on flyers and brochures and did a little bit of writing, and I realized then how much I loved healthcare.”
Her internship at RMH revealed her passion for helping people through communications and marketing, and she began to understand that marketing is about cultivating relationships with people.
“It’s not just convincing people to come to that hospital, it’s about helping them understand what their choices are and helping people understand more about their health so they can make informed choices,” Wichael explained.
Wichael feels that healthcare marketing and communications gives her the opportunity to help people, while using her relationship-building skills she refined through BC and the internships.
Because she maintained a relationship with her internship supervisor at RMH, she heard about an open position, which led to her 20-year career there.
“The very reason I took the job, the very reason I loved the internship is because at the end of the day, I still feel like I’m helping people. I’m not a nurse, I’m not a doctor–that’s not my skillset, but I can help people understand and make an informed decision about where to go for their healthcare, and that feels very impactful to me.”
The importance of relationships continues to serve Wichael in her life outside of work as well. Wichael is a strong member of her community, whether it’s participating in a community choir, chairing the boards of several nonprofits over the years, including March of Dimes, and volunteering through her church.
“I think a lot of the relationships and the relationship skills that we picked up from BC were very instrumental to helping us find careers.”
Wichael recommends internships to students who want to solidify their interests through experience the way she did.
“I always encourage students when I talk to them: If you don’t know what you want to do, internships are a great way to weed through the clutter and maybe figure out what is a good fit for you.”
– Rosie Clark ’26
