COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Internships are high impact learning experiences. Students immerse in a professional setting with intentionally stated learning goals. Students shadow, volunteer or secure paid employment in a private company, not-for-profit organization or government agency within the local community, nationally or abroad. During the semester prior, students are assisted with preparing their application materials and in searching for and applying to internships. During the semester of the internship, students follow a course curriculum including 40 contact hours at the host organization per credit registered, participation in classes, meetings or workshops, completion of homework assignments that support student learning and career reflection, and end of semester evaluations. Internships culminate in a letter grade determined by the above criteria, and earn course credit. Written pre-approval of course instructor required.
During my senior year I was lucky enough to complete my internship at the same location for both semesters. I interned at LearningWorks in Portland. I was a part of both their English as a second language program and their after school program. In the mornings I was an assistant teacher in an adult English class and in the afternoons I would travel to different after school programs in the Portland area. During the first semester I got to visit all 11 programs and conduct lessons with the students about diversity and inclusion. We talked about things like the origin of our names, what to do when a new student comes to class, and different cultures and languages from around the world. During my second semester I got to choose to stay at one school for a chance to connect with the students and staff on a deeper level.
Here are a few of my slides from my final presentation at the end of the year:
These slides show the description of each program that I was a part of and a bit of work that I did with my students. The hours were long and exhausting but as a hands on learner I feel like I reached my full potential with this course. The ball was in my court and I was able to navigate my own internship journey while feeling like I made an impact in the community.
