At the end of the semester, most students will return their textbooks, pack up to head home and take their minds off of school. But some will pack up to head somewhere new and continue to learn through summer internships.
Many Baker University students take advantage of the opportunity to participate in summer internships as a way to gain experience in their academic areas without having to divide their time and focus between an internship and school.
“Most students are not in class, so they have plenty of time to devote to an internship and really get the full experience and have plenty of time to do that,” Director of Career Services Susan Wade said. “Many companies also have structured internship programs that are during the summer.”
Sophomore Nancy Delgado, a biology and spanish major, has been accepted for a biology research intern position at the University of Kansas.
“This summer I’ll be working with a professor at KU for 10 weeks, and his emphasis is in the molecular bioscience program,” Delgado said. “So, I’ll be either helping him with some of the current research he’s doing or possibly starting something new. But I think it’s more probable that I’ll just go ahead and continue some of the things he’s currently doing with flies.”
Rather than moving home for the summer like most students, Delgado will move to Lawrence to live on the KU campus.
“I (will) definitely miss my family, because even during the school year, it’s hard to find time to go back home on the weekend,” Delgado said. “I guess it’s just kind of like entering a little bit of the real world now, just because when I become an adult I’m going to have to live on my own; be on my own.”
While Delgado will be just minutes down the road from the Baldwin City campus, junior Brittni Sayers will travel across the country for her month-long internship in Key Largo, Fla.
She will intern for Island Dolphin Care, an organization that offers dolphin-assisted therapy to children with disabilities, critical illnesses and special needs.
“I really like dolphins, and I had recently switched my major to nursing,” Sayers said. “And one section, I guess, that I am the most interested in is probably children with disabilities and just therapy in general. So, it kind of mixes two things that are really strong assets in my heart and so that’s why I chose to apply and just go for it.”
While many students choose to do an internship for credit, Wade said students don’t have to do so.
“We’ve had a bunch of students (apply for summer internships) … Not everybody’s interning for credit,” Wade said. “Internships don’t have to be for credit, because you typically pay for your credit in the summertime.”
Wade said applying for internships begins with a well-prepared resume, which Career Services can help with.
Students use internships not only to gain experience and knowledge, but to make connections for the future.
“I would like to go to KU (medical) school anyway, so there’s a relationship that I could form right now that would improve my possibilities in the future by going to KU,” Delgado said. “There would be an advantage.”
