Passing up an internship for a paid summer job may be common among college students, but it often means missing out on valuable experiences. This summer, Houghton students Chandler Jones ’17 and Melissa Maclean ’17 took internships in their fields, and agree that their experiences have shaped how they see their future career path.
Jones, an international development and communications major, interned at International Justice Mission (IJM), a Christian human rights organization headquartered in D.C. She worked as the Community Mobilization Intern.
“In any country where the legal system is corrupt, IJM goes in to help restore justice,” Jones said. According to the organization’s website, IJM is an anti-slavery organization that combats violence against the poor and vulnerable. Jones participated in lobbying congressmen and senators about the Ending Modern Slavery Act while interning for IJM. This role fit well for Jones, who hopes to one day work as an international human rights lawyer.
Jones added her experience at IJM made her feel sure that she was called to fight for justice through the legal field. She had known of the organization since her mission trip to Cambodia after graduating high school, where she helped care for victims of human trafficking. When she discovered that IJM rescued the girls from brothels, Jones began to pay attention to IJM’s efforts and dreamed of working there. Gary Hagen, the author of her favorite book, The Good News About Injustice, is the CEO of IJM. According to Jones, her internship built her communication skills and confidence, while also enriching her spiritually.
“Being with people my age who are so motivated and want to change the world is so inspiring,” she said.
Meanwhile, MacLean, also an international development and communications major, worked as an intern at two organizations throughout the summer, Heritage Christian Services and Motion Intelligence. MacLean worked under the director of communications at Heritage, which is an organization that provides services for people with autism spectrum disorder in Rochester. She also interned at Motion Intelligence, a company that does groundbreaking research with the State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical Center in the field of diagnostics. Motion Intelligence focuses on concussion testing, autism, and athletic performance. MacLean acted as a freelance videographer for the organization.
“It’s been an incredible opportunity to explore my interests and get a genuine feeling for whether this would be a good fit for me,” MacLean said of both internship experiences. She said she realized she enjoys working for a specific cause like autism spectrum. “It’s molded my spiritual life, molded my work ethic, molded my compassion, honed my professional skills, and given me opportunities to network,” she said.
Both Jones and MacLean said their internships helped them to see what kind of work they felt passionate about and strengthened the skills they will need for the future.
“Even if you get an internship in something that has nothing to do with what you do in the future, that networking is so incredible,” MacLean said. “There’s nothing bad I can say that came out of the experience.”