Internships have multiple benefits for CSC students

“I got to actually apply what I was learning in class,” said Parker, a Rural Law Opportunities Program (RLOP) student from Cambridge, Nebraska. “(Interning) is just a really good experience.”

Parker’s enthusiasm for her internship is no surprise to Deena Kennell, CSC’s director of internship and career services.

“The vast majority (of student internships) are positive,” Kennell said. “Often it reinforces the decision to have chosen the course they have.”

For Rachel Henkle, a junior from Newcastle, Wyoming, who is majoring in Family and Consumer Science, interning at a retail business during the fall semester helped her make a decision about the future.

“I had in mind being a business owner as a career, so I was firming up what I actually wanted to do,” she said. “In the end, it helped me decide I wanted to go more into education, and maybe do a side business.”

Changing a preconceived notion about a career path also counts as a positive outcome of interning, according to Kennell.

“Occasionally we will have a student say, ‘this isn’t what I thought it would be.’ That’s learning too,” Kennell said. “What students say a lot is ‘my classroom experience has been valuable, but this particular experience taught me more about having to work (at a particular job).’”

CSC undergraduates can earn as many as 18 of the credits required for graduation through interning, and fulfilling credit requirements is often a motivation for students to seek an internship, Kennell said.

That was the case for Lukas Klueber, a senior business administration major from Rapid City, South Dakota. The internship he completed at a financial services office during the summer was a means of earning the credits he needed to graduate.

“To be honest it came down to those eight extra credits,” Klueber said. “It was structured that I could get that many credit hours and actually do some learning from it. I thought it was an excellent opportunity.”

Students typically find an internship location on their own, based on their interests and career goals, but Kennell can suggest potential sites, if needed.

Almost any type of work can qualify for an internship, and students sometimes find unusual opportunities. Working for local businesses and government agencies like the U.S. Forest Service are popular options said Kennell, but CSC students have also interned at places as varied as an elephant refuge in Thailand, a Texas oil field, an artificial insemination facility, and a local farrier.

The value of CSC’s internship program is evident from the number of students who take advantage of it, according to Kennell. The 2019 fall semester saw 63 students earn almost 300 credits through internships.

The internship program requires 50 hours of work for each credit hour, and students must submit weekly activity reports, respond to reflective questions on their experiences, and complete a portfolio that includes learning outcomes, a supervisor’s evaluation, and an updated resume. Kennell assists students in fulfilling those requirements, which she said are aimed at integrating the internship with classroom experiences.

Klueber said he quickly realized how his CSC classes related to his internship, which included completing a comprehensive set of short educational courses, and preparing a business plan.

“When I got into the courses, I thought ‘I sat in class and learned exactly about this, so now I have to apply it,’” he said. “The business plan was one of the things I could relate most back to classes at CSC.”

Parker also found that her work at Cullers Law Firm in Chadron meshed well with her classwork.

“It was really cool,” she said. “Everything I learned in class was a reflection of what I got to do. I would be in class learning things and it would literally mirror what I got to do at the office.”

Henkle said she completed 150 internship hours at Bloom, a retail boutique in Chadron, while also attending classes, playing on the basketball team, and working as a resident adviser. Her internship work included creating floral bouquets, designing and lettering signboards, and creating window displays.

“The biggest thing I got was time management,” Henkle said. “I think I learned more from my internship than in the classroom, just because I was there doing the things I’m going to school for.”

And the experience helped Henkle decide on a career path.

“I finally figured out that I wanted to become a teacher, even though my internship wasn’t in teaching,” she said.

Kennell said students almost always see benefits from their internships and the experience can be transformative for some.

“Some students have an average positive experience. Some have an exceptional experience,” Kennell said. “Sometimes they are life-changing in ways I don’t anticipate.”

Klueber said his experience was particularly helpful.

“I can’t express in words how valuable it was to me personally,” he said. “It’s an education outside of education. It was amazing.”

—George Ledbetter