Internships are recently becoming more sought after by high school students. Students see them as a great way to gain experience in a subject or career they might be passionate about in ways other than sitting behind a desk. Both within and outside of Benilde-St. Margaret’s, students can get involved in various professional opportunities.
A study conducted by the University of Wisconsin found that internships have a lot of benefits for students. They can improve communication and thinking skills, career adaptability, and academic capability, and they look great on a college resume. “[Students] learn skills and knowledge that they wouldn’t otherwise learn in the classroom. Things like how to collaborate or how to do complex work where a lot of different things have to come together,” Director of Curriculum and Learning, and EPIC coordinator, Stephen Pohlen said.
BSM offers various year-round internal internships for students to participate in through the EPIC (explore, partner, inspire, create) program. These opportunities include but are not limited to, working with admissions, technology, child development, marketing and communications, hockey marketing, and parent association. Last year, over 100 BSM students took advantage of the program to explore their different interests and career paths. “There’s a wide variety of interests, and we haven’t been able to expand the program enough to cover everybody’s interests, but the hope is that eventually, we get to a place where everybody finds something that they might be passionate about and are able to participate in,” Pohlen said.
There’s a wide variety of interests, and we haven’t been able to expand the program enough to cover everybody’s interests, but the hope is that eventually, we get to a place where everybody finds something that they might be passionate about and are able to participate in.”
— Dr. Steve Pohlen
The admissions internship, for instance, allows students to give tours to families who are considering BSM, promote the school at various events, and host open houses. Senior Allison Cachat is in her second year of this internship. “We have a lot of opportunities to get into the more business side of admissions, and we do a lot of really cool visits, like last year we went to [the] TCO [Twin City Orthopedics] stadium, and got to meet with head marketing executives,” Cachat said.
However, students do not have to work with EPIC to get involved in internships at BSM. Senior Victoria Zamorano has worked with Dennis Draughn, director of equity, inclusion, and belonging, to create the new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) internship this year. Because the DEI is so new, they haven’t had many opportunities to be active in the BSM community, but they find other ways in which to celebrate diversity at BSM, “[The DEI helps to] coordinate events for other celebratory months, such as Native American Heritage Month, Women’s History Month, etc…we are aiming to create foundational changes within BSM that foster an environment in which people of all walks of life feel heard and advocated for,” Zamorano said in an email interview.
This internship is not necessarily career-based, but it is still a way to explore an interest in social justice and help BSM to foster a diverse and accepting environment. Right now there is only one student participating, but Zamorano is hoping the program can grow to encompass more people from across the school. “It’s still pretty early on, but I hope that in the future more DEI interns will come on board at BSM and help to make DEI a more pertinent topic,” Zamorano said.
Students can also work with organizations completely outside of BSM. Senior Elena Jackson worked with a city council candidate over the summer, going door to door and participating in the social media aspect. “I think it was a really good experience. It offered a hands-on opportunity to get involved in our community in South Minneapolis, and also it was just fun to feel like I actually made a contribution to the campaign because Election Day is coming up,” Jackson said.
I think it was a really good experience. It offered a hands-on opportunity to get involved in our community in South Minneapolis, and also it was just fun to feel like I actually made a contribution to the campaign because Election Day is coming up.”
— Elena Jackson
Internships also allow students to apply the skills they learn in the classroom to real-world experiences. “In all the internships there’s probably some level of reading and writing, and being able to communicate well…in some of them math is important. For instance, the business marketing one for the hockey program, they have to keep track of their budget, and all the income coming in from these different companies that are advertising with them,” Pohlen said.
Internships are a helpful resource for high school students to further their passions for certain topics and fields, and help them to better understand the work that goes into specific jobs, “I feel like having this [city council] internship will help me with college and having a career, [especially] if I want to pursue political science because it offers me some real-world experience… and [I now] understand what goes into a campaign,” Jackson said.
There is so much valuable information to be gained in an internship, and in order to gain the full benefits, Pohlen advises students to take in as much as possible. “The most important thing is to fully engage and when I say that, ask questions, as much as possible because the professionals that [the students are] working with, they love to share what they do,” Pohlen said.