What we gained from this experience

The following is an article written collectively by students following the fall 2011 internships:

What we gained from this internship?

We learned a lot about the different workplaces where we went. When you work in a place, you will discover that you cannot solve the problems you encountered like the way that school teach you. Learning theories in school its different because in a job you can actually see the issue and learn about it because books can only give a little information but not exactly what you need to learn about. When you work in a place, you get to know some unintended conditions and how to deal with that. You have to deal with day to day challenges, and we enjoyed that. We also realized the jobs that we are suitable to do in the future, either it's a nonprofit organization or a commercial company. 

Would we recommend this experience to other students?

 The internship provided us with real life first-hand working experience. We would definitely recommend this program to other students because students can learn things from this internship experience that cannot be taught with a text book. They can have the opportunity to learn about a profession from a real expert’s perspective. For example, my internship taught me hands on experience of the professional field that I worked for four weeks. While school only teaches something from the test book, my internship taught me how knowledge can be applied in the real work place. Students also can learn how to be a professional employee. For example, I learned to be on time, respect other people at work place, and how to communicate with new people. In addition, if you would like to work in the similar field from your internship, it’s a great chance to have the real world experiences and see how the field works. Therefore, we would strongly recommend this internship program to other students. 

What advice do we have for future students in this program?

Our advice to the program staff is to send the students to different work places every week.  They can learn about what more professions looks like.  For example, you can send students to different community centers, can compare what is similar and different at the work sites. Or one week you can work with a lawyer, the next week work with a doctor.  Meeting more people in more work places, students can learn about different careers.  Our advice to future students is, first, to be on time.  Arrive early at your work site, 10 minutes before start.  Second, listen to your boss. Pay attention to what they want you to do.  If you are not sure what you are supposed to do, ask again.  Make sure you understand what you should be doing so you can do a good job.  Third, be patient. If your supervisor sends you to do something hard, do it.  Fourth, be ready to learn something new.  Meeting professional people, you can find out how they made different choices in life like with college or work.  Getting more ideas can help you make your own decisions about life.  Last, ask a lot of questions. Write them down. At first, you can be scared to ask questions, but it gets easier.  Some questions: Do you like what you do? Are you happy with work experiences?  What motivated you to choose your career? What makes you want to help kids? What makes you want to do what you do?  Do you have other interests that you want to follow?