Summer break is a fantastic time to take advantage of volunteer and internship programs. Students are often encouraged to participate in these programs as a means of gaining experience in a field that they will potentially prepare to enter after graduation. Often times, skills and interests are enhanced during these summer experiences, preparing students for their fields of work.
Since Buffalo is the closest city to Houghton, many students took advantage of the broad range of internship opportunities available there. Ashley Carroll ‘17, a psychology major, explored an internship in Buffalo with P.A.T.H. (People Against Trafficking Humans). P.A.T.H. is a non-profit organization that provides services to any woman or child that is vulnerable, traumatized, or has been exploited by the human trafficking industry. Carroll participated in a variety of positions, such as leading spiritual development groups, shadowing a social worker, sitting in on support groups, and providing transportation for clients.
Carroll was fortunate to participate in an internship that solidified her career goals. “I got to see the good, the bad, and the ugly of non-profit organizations,” she said, “and was able to explore my passion in regards to counseling and loving on human trafficking survivors and women who have experienced severe trauma in their lifetime. I seem to have discovered that I would love to be a school counselor!”
Tess Taggart ‘17, a biochemistry major, spent the summer in her hometown of Albany, NY, working as a Quality Control Analytical Chemistry Intern at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. She worked on optimizing the peptide mapping procedure in Regeneron’s quality control lab. Taggart had the opportunity to present her research to a member of the senior leadership team, as well as the whole department she worked for.
These internship programs allowed interns a large amount of freedom to put into practice the skills they have learned in college. Taggart was able to build complex experiments for the company she interned with. “My boss trusted me to carry out procedures and gave me great advice throughout the process,” she said. “I really felt like I was doing something important with the department.”
Ji-yeong “Jenny” Woo ‘17, a TESOL major, had the opportunity to complete a volunteer internship in Sendai, Japan. She assisted teachers with classroom programs and preparations, supported children with intellectual, physical, and behavioral difficulties with their academic studies, and spoke English in the classroom as well as on the playground to help students learn. “My favorite part of [my] internship was building a relationship with my students and teachers at school and seeing growth in their academic and spiritual areas,” Woo said.
Participating in cross-cultural internships such as Woo’s can be a challenge. When in a host culture, it’s easy to be misinterpreted and misunderstood. One of the biggest challenges Woo faced during her time in Japan was being Korean. During class one day, a student asked her where she was from. When she responded with Korea, the student initially responded negatively, due to the stereotypes some Japanese people have towards Koreans. Woo was able to use this tension with her student to talk about God’s love, which unites across differences and breaks cultural barriers.
The VOCA Office was created to assist students in finding Internships and volunteer programs that expose them to hands-on, authentic experiences in their own fields of interest. “VOCA does a great job of preparing you for interviews and helping to clean up your resume or CV,” Taggart said. “Going through that process is extremely important to landing a great summer job.” Whatever your major may be, there are opportunities out there to help you better understand your role in expanding the kingdom of God.