The roasted turkey has been carved and the spiced eggnog poured, yet instead of being filled with the holiday spirit, you are engulfed with dread as you take your seat at the dinner table. Without notice, the verbal dagger you've been fearing comes flying from Uncle Ed. "So, what plans have you made for the upcoming summer?" All eyes at the table turn upon you and somehow your previous plan of purchasing a round-trip ticket to Puerto Rico to become a music video backup dancer seems inadequate.
Without doubt, many students found themselves in such a conundrum during Winter Break as they faced questions from family and friends regarding their plans, or lack thereof, for summer employment, education or travel. This experience can be especially daunting for many first-year students, as they realize their minimum-wage earning, high-school summer jobs may no longer be sufficient résumé builders.
The Arts & Sciences Council held a presentation Monday Jan. 28 to help students get an early start thinking about their summer plans. The event consisted of a panel of 15 graduating fourth-year students who shared their diverse internship experiences, which ranged from defense contracting and cost modeling for Northrop Grumman to conducting fashion research for Vogue magazine.
Despite the extreme variety of students' intern experiences, many of them offered similar advice. For example, the vast majority of the panelists said they secured their employment with the help of connections from family, friends or alumni. Colin Hudson, a fourth-year economics and art history double-major, admitted, "Most of the time, it's not what you know, it's who you know."
Several students offered unique ideas on connections and network building. Erica Siegmund, a fourth-year economics and history double-major and former ASC president, said she obtained her internship in the office of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., through a contact she met working as a camp counselor during an earlier summer vacation.
"Connections mean different things," Siegmund said. "You may think you don't know people, but you really do."
University Internship Program employee Sarah Sievert, who graduated from the University last semester with degrees in American Studies and history, followed Siegmund's comment by assuring the audience that if students do not have connections in the field they hope to enter, the University has contacts for them.
"The University Internship Program has all the connections, and we set it up for you," Sievert said.
Another aspect of internships the panel addressed was the variety of work environments on the market. Hannah Peria, a third-year history major, demonstrated that not all internships involve spending 50 hours a week in a cubicle. Peria interned for Pine Ridge Reservation, a living area for the Native American Lakota tribe. She worked outdoors re-roofing houses, building bunk-beds, dry-walling and fixing powwow grounds for celebrations.
"My internship helped me decide that working in the grassroots environment, like in management and reconciling historic divides, is what I want to do," she said, adding that her program was particularly rewarding because she was able to experience history and culture firsthand.
Kelsey Jo Trom, a fourth-year economics and environmental science double-major, also landed an internship that did not chain her to a desk. She interned at Alcoa, a producer and manager of primary aluminum, and will return to work for the company as a full employee after graduation.
"I was in the office half of the time and outside wearing a hard hat and steel boots the other half," Trom said. "I had a great experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything."
Serena Rasoul, a fourth-year foreign affairs and cognitive science double-major, also sought an internship outside corporate America. Rasoul was accepted into an international program in Al-Mustakbal for Strategic and Policy Studies, a firm in Palestinian territory that evaluates the extent to which the private sector has access to the legislature. Her advice to the audience was to "get in touch with alums" and "don't be afraid of international internships."
Although not all of the panelists' internships turned into job offers, as in Trom's case, the panelists said their intern experiences helped shape their perceptions of certain careers and industries and ultimately aided them in their vocational decisions. Trom said before working for Alcoa, she tried out three other internships, including one in criminal justice and one in a congressman's office.
"I decided I wanted something with a corporate environment but that wasn't overly stressful," Trom said.
Rasoul also said her internship experience helped her decide what she wanted to do after graduation. She had originally considered law school "as a default" because it was the natural route that many fourth-year College students interested in government and foreign affairs seemed to take. After working abroad, she said her experiences have persuaded her to pursue the track she loves.
More than anything, the panelists at the Arts & Sciences Council event shared their positive work experiences and sought to inspire their peers to find internship opportunities that fit their personalities and could lead to good career matches. In her closing remarks, Hudson repeated the theme of the day.
"Don't just do it because other people are doing it," Hudson said. "Do it if you think you would really love it."
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