I knew that during my time at Naz I wanted to do something that reached beyond the boundaries of what’s on campus and learn more about the community we live in, but I wasn’t sure how to do that. With the help of my career coach, I learned that Nazareth offers countless internship opportunities throughout Rochester and the rest of the country that can provide you an edge in your education and give you positive experiences that help guide you in your career path.
After going down to the Center for Life’s Work and talking with my career coach, Emily Marchese, I was given an opportunity to intern at a local non-profit called Compeer Rochester. This organization focuses on finding community members and clients who have a mental health diagnosis and matching them together to create friendships, breaking barriers and stereotypes that often surround mental illness, like that people who have a mental illness are different than others or can’t function in society as normal people. Having an internship gave me the opportunity to explore the community and the Rochester area, network with other organizations, and make a footprint in the professional world.
On top of being involved in the community, I acquired a variety of skills needed for many professions and learned how to solve real-world issues. I increased my communication skills through making phone calls to clients and sending documents, and I discovered the timeline needed to pull off programs while organizing events for clients and volunteers. Interning at Compeer Rochester allowed me to reevaluate some of my previous biases as I was able to understand and work with people who represented a number of mental illnesses, seeing them as individuals rather than just a group of people in our society. I also had opportunities to use my creativity to develop media content for social platforms like Instagram and Twitter, as well as flyers to hang around the community to raise awareness. Overall, I became more confident in my ability to succeed in the real-world and gained professional experience.
Not only did having an internship prepare me for the real-world, but it also gave me an advantage in my coursework. I gained course credits for completing the internship, as well as first-hand experience working on projects that directly relate to my classes, decreasing the amount of outside research I would need to make connections to the content taught in my Psychology and Social Work classes. I learned about the prevalence of mental health issues (25% of Americans have at least one mental illness) and about some of the policies and regulations that human service organizations have to follow. While working at Compeer, I met with representatives from the United Way, gave presentations to peer support professionals, went to radio and television stations, and visited farmer’s markets. I worked on outreach with Rotary and Kilwani groups in the area, and learned how to professionally represent an organization. All of this, in turn, made me a more well-informed student in a social work background and gave me tools to succeed in projects and presentations.
As a second semester sophomore, I had learned much about the psychology field but lacked the first-hand experience that only an internship can offer you. Now, at the end of my internship, I see just how valuable it really is to complete one. In fact, some majors require internship or site placements, although others can be done to fill in extra credit hours. Through the Center for Life’s Work, you can find internship advice from your career coach, as well as information on other opportunities, such as the SPARK Grant, which helped me financially during my internship. Any freshman or sophomore can apply for the grant, which gives you a stipend of $1,500, in addition to covering a majority of the cost for housing on campus for students who live out of the area but have internships in Rochester during the summer months. Nazareth faculty and staff really push you to have real-world experiences through internships and will help you through the process to make sure you are successful in whatever you choose to do.
Want some advice from a career coach? Check out Kiernan’s blog here!