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Brigham
Young University-Idaho students may gather in Rexburg to learn, but they
scatter to intern.
Students
have worked in more than 30 states and several countries this academic
year. There’s currently a student working in Washington,
D.C., at the Office of Naval
Intelligence, a photography intern in New York City
and an intern working in the regional office of U.S. Sen. Larry Craig in Idaho
Falls. Interns have also included an agronomy
student in Mozambique
and a nursing student in Bolivia.
Local
internships have included many student teachers throughout eastern Idaho.
Several interns have been working at Rexburg
City Hall on the planning and
zoning staff and three interns are working this summer for Argonne National
Laboratory-West near Idaho Falls.
When
first introduced in the academic year of 2001-2002, the internship program placed
965 interns throughout the nation. In the current academic year that ends
in August, it is anticipated that more than 1,500 students will have been
involved with internships.
“Since
there aren’t enough places for 1,500 interns to work in Rexburg, it
allows us to send students to places they may otherwise never
experience,” says Guy Hollingsworth, director of the internship
program.
Carolee Coy is working in New York
City as a photography intern. As a junior from Alaska
majoring in photography and French, she’s having a great experience
in Manhattan.
“I
get off the subway in the mornings and as soon as I get to the street,
there’s the Empire State
Building,” Coy says.
“I’m in New York
– it’s awesome.”
Coy
called several photography companies to find the internship. She is a lone
student from BYU-Idaho in New York City
and lives with her aunt. To fill the academic requirements of her
internship, she must assemble a 20-piece portfolio of her work and keep
track of her hours.
She
will be in New York City the
entire summer, working five days a week for no pay. Even though her
internship is non-paid, Coy isn’t complaining.
“I’ve
learned in a month of interning as much as I have in two years of
school,” she says. “In the month I’ve been here, I have been
on several photo shoots with several teams for high profile magazines.
I’m learning to use advanced equipment and how the real business
world works and what takes place behind the scenes. It’s something I
didn’t even touch on at school.”
Sometimes
the right internship will change a student’s career path by opening a
whole new world of opportunities. That’s what’s happening for
Jeff Staker, a business management major
interning this summer at the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence.
The
Colorado native works as the
assistant program director for the office’s internship program where
he helps with training and orientation of the interns. In addition, he
regularly briefs the commanding officer of Naval Intelligence on the
program.
When
asked how this internship is helping him, Staker
didn’t hesitate with his answer: “It could change everything. I
might go to school out here at the War
College (where the government
trains in intelligence and logical reasoning) or pursue a master’s
degree at George Washington
University.”
To
obtain this internship, Staker acted on a
prompting. When Rear Admiral Richard B. Porterfield, director of naval
intelligence, spoke at BYU-Idaho last year, Staker
stuck around and spoke with Cindy Howell, the widow of Brady Howell, a Sugar
City native killed in the September 11, 2001, attack on the
Pentagon.
This
sparked an interest that Staker pursued. He went
to the internship office and received help filling out his application and
polishing his resume.
Unlike
Coy, Staker’s internship is paid. But
according to him, that’s not the biggest thing.
“At
all costs, do an internship. I was involved with student government, but
this really opened my eyes to the real world,” says the former
BYU-Idaho student body vice president. “Do whatever you need to do to
get a real experience. Students need to be bold, just go and don=t be
scared. People are afraid to leave their comfort zone, but that=s the way
we are going to change the world.”
Nathan
Roberts, an economics major with plans for law school, is working as a
part-time, non-paid intern in Sen. Craig’s regional office in Idaho
Falls while working two other jobs. The Wyoming
native obtained the internship through a hunch and a phone call to the
office in Idaho Falls.
Roberts’
duties include working with constituents and acting as a liaison between
people in the region and local government. He has interfaced with the
senator, local government and business leaders “opening my eyes to
the need for political involvement and the many doors out there just
waiting to be opened by anyone with a little ambition.”
Roberts’
internship has prompted him to start the BYU-Idaho College Republicans
Organization.
“I
am awakened to my responsibility as a citizen to get involved in political
issues because we’re the ones who’ll make a difference,”
he says.
Roberts
adds, “Find the best thing for you – don’t worry about
the difficulty of it; just pursue it. Too many times we preclude ourselves
from opportunities because we aren’t willing to act. I’m sure everyone
learns something specific to themselves from an internship. For myself,
I’ve learned students need to get involved in the affairs of their
local government.”
Hollingsworth
says the internship program adds depth to academic learning and widens the
range of experiences a student otherwise would not receive. Of the 50
baccalaureate programs offered at BYU-Idaho, 80 percent require an
internship to graduate.
It
is common for students to be offered a job by the company they intern for.
According to Hollingsworth, a poll of returning interns showed that 60
percent were offered a position in the company where they interned – a percentage 10 points higher than the national average.
Of
the returning interns, 80 percent had been paid for their work – a percentage
10 points higher than the national average.
As
the years have progressed and internships become more prevalent in the
business world, 50 percent of large companies fill entry level positions
from their internship programs.
“Internships
have evolved from being a necessary evil to just plain necessary,”
Hollingsworth says.
He
says the ideal internship is a full-time job during a student’s
off-track semester, lasting three to four months. Part-time internships
while taking classes on campus are acceptable, but should be the exception
rather than the norm.
Sometimes
students need to pay the bills while interning in a non-paid program. To
avoid weakening the internship experience, the recommended part-time
internship is 20 hours per week.
There
is more to an internship than just signing up. Generally, students need to
be at least juniors or seniors and have experience with upper-level classes
to be placed in an internship program. Every department has specific
qualifications tailored to what is important for their students to learn.
To assist students fulfill internship requirements there are more than 70
internship coordinators – faculty members who also teach classes.
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