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What Value Do Internships Have For College Students?

by Jennifer Holmquist
12/10/2007

While summer may be a time of rest and relaxation for some college students, others choose to develop their professional skills and further their career goals during their few months off from classes.

Cullen McCarthy and Kailey Dees are both University of Georgia students who took advantage of opportunities to participate in major-related internships over the summer and gain valuable knowledge and experience while doing so.

McCarthy participated in a premedical fellowship with Our Little Roses in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. He also gained first-hand knowledge of medical procedures by scrubbing in on neonatal and pediatric surgeries, as well as researching pediatric AIDS patients in San Pedro Sula from 1994 to the present.

“We were fortunate enough to research 396 subjects, almost twice the size of the largest AIDS study previously done there, so we were extremely pleased about that,” McCarthy said.

In the afternoons he would go to a language immersion class for two to three hours and play basketball or soccer with the girls living at the home. On the weekends, he helped to arrange free AIDS testing with missionaries and nurses from Mercy Ships, a global charity operating hospital ships in developing nations, or he would work nights in the emergency room.

“That was my favorite part because I got to do every kind of medical procedure imaginable as a college student,” McCarthy said.

Dees participated in the Governor’s Internship Program as an assistant to Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and spent her summer in Atlanta working with the governor’s contacts, writing letters of correspondence, assisting with press conferences and photo shoots and preparing for business meetings.

Their summer programs gave both McCarthy and Dees valuable experience in their respective fields of study as well as presented invaluable opportunities for their professional growth.

“My summer gave me a concrete reason to be a doctor,” McCarthy said. “It gave me a sense of compassion for the people of the third world, and it made me so thankful to be born into the life I have.”

Dees said her internship allowed her to delve deeper into the political system by being able to work so closely with the governor.

“I was able to understand the true pressures of holding this type of office with such huge responsibilities. Yet, I was able to get to know the governor and his staff as individuals,” she said.

As competition for jobs after college increases, internships and other similar experiences are becoming crucial in giving students an advantage in their job search.

Both McCarthy and Dees said they feel that internships are extremely important for the personal development of college students.
“Without experiencing this internship, I would not be as socially developed as I am now,” Dees said. “I gained confidence, communication skills, and learned how to deal with extreme pressure as a result of being put in this environment.”

“I think an internship needs to be something you are passionate and excited about,” McCarthy said. "There are so many out there that you could find one that not only forwards your career path but also inspires you or gets you excited.”