Real world learning

In today’s economy, students have to start building their careers as early as high school in order to be competitive in the college admissions process, future college internships, and eventually their professional careers.

“I feel like in our world you have to have experience to get a job and if you don’t start early you’ll spend your twenties getting that experience instead of making money,” said junior Kennedy Snowden-Turner.

A recent survey by Getting Smart Magazine found that 90% of employers agreed that internships can greatly assist with students being successful and 70% believed that high school internships would “very likely” or “completely likely” help high school students get a college internship.

High schools should offer internship programs that would count as high school credit to help students explore career paths, gain valuable work experience, develop skills, and network with people in the field.

“If Salem offered internships senior year I would totally do it because that would give me insight into what my future job might entail,” said senior Jessica Watson. “I would do a business analytics and finance internship.”

Throughout high school, guidance counselors provide some form of career counseling and assist with college planning and/or career planning, but students do not have the opportunity to explore careers or have real life career exposure in actual work environments unless they go to ATC or VoTech.

“I did VoTech for two years and each year I got a career certification,” said senior Brittany Roberts. “I also got access to volunteering at Sentara so I’ve got to experience working in the NICU and ER which helped me decide that it’s what I want to do and it helped me get my foot in the door because I want to work at Sentara when I graduate and I’m already getting hands on training there.”

Internships would give students first hand experience of what a typical day looks like in their field of choice. This real world experience can be helpful in high school as students make decisions that will affect the rest of their lives. Internships will give students a realistic job preview and provide real life problems that workers face in that career. In the end this will save money in college by reducing major changes or having students pursue careers that in the end they do not have any interest in or it was not what they expected.

Internships would also help students talk to others who have been working in that area of interest and get information on their experiences whether good or bad. Internships also provide students with opportunities to practice professional behaviors. Students will learn what is appropriate for the workplace. For example, being on time, keeping a neat appearance, respect for coworkers and clients, following through with responsibilities, and taking every part of the job very seriously.

There are challenges to offering credit earning internships in high school. There are only so many internships available. How would high schools determine who can participate? Also, since internships are not tied to any educational program, how would high schools determine what receives credits and how many credits are earned? Another issue that would need to be worked out is transportation. Unlike vocational education where everyone is going to the same location and can take a bus, students would be in various locations and school provided transportation would be nearly impossible.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, as many as 80% of college students change their majors at some time during their undergraduate years. The career that once appealed to them may turn out to be something that is not at all what they expected as they learn more about it. Real life experience that is offered in internships can help high school students get a taste of actual professional experience in a particular field before they fully commit their time and money. Internships also help with getting a foot in the door for future opportunities such as college internships and full time jobs after college. High schools should assist students with getting a head start on their future careers so they can make good career choices.