Internships serve as an opportunity for college students to gain real-world experience and knowledge before graduating and give them insight to what their future careers can potentially look like. At Simpson College, students are given many resources to help and apply for different internships which allows them to gain insight into their desired professional fields.
Kelsey Bolton, the director of Career Development at Simpson College, mentioned how internships are great opportunities for students to participate in during their time in college. Bolton shared her perspective through email.
“As Director of Career Development, I support students with all things career development,” she said. “I am here to help with exploration, searching for internships and job opportunities and helping with application material.”
Bolton also said preparing students for internships typically begins with understanding their interests and goals.
“It really is about getting to know the student and their goals first,” she said. “What types of roles or responsibilities are they hoping to gain experience in? What experience do they already have, whether that is from previous internships, a work study position, a part-time or summer job, etc.?”
Bolton said meeting with students one-on-one gives her a better understanding of what their interests are. This allows her to guide them towards internships which fit their goals. Students are then able to gain skills which employers are looking for in recent graduates.
“Internships are important because they allow students to apply knowledge they gain from the classroom to real-world situations,” Bolton said. “It is also an opportunity for students to grow skills that employers view as important for graduates, such as critical thinking, communication and teamwork.”
Simpson has several resources on campus when it comes to searching for internship opportunities.
Brooklen Morgan, a senior majoring in psychology and neuroscience, is one who is currently benefitting from her internship, which provides hands-on experiences working with children. Morgan currently interns at Brain Balance, where she uses exercises to help children gain skills.
“Essentially we have kids that struggle with intellectual disabilities, whether it’s something like ADHD, something as small as just emotional regulation, not having great social cues, really anything that the family feels like they need just a little extra support,” Morgan said.
Morgan’s helps children through activities designed to support their development.
“I basically lead the kids through three stations, a balance, a core and then a cognitive station,” Morgan said. “So just learn how to balance the different kinds of personalities and what each kid needs differently.”
Throughout her experience at Brain Balance, Morgan said she has learned to adjust the needs of different children. She said she has loved the opportunity she was given through her experiences so far. She encourages other students to start looking for internships as soon as you can and take advantage of the resources available at Simpson.
“Advice I would give is to get a head start on it,” Morgan said. “Even if it seems far away, it’s going to sneak up on you. So use your resources, use your advisor. Use Kelsey Bolton.”
