Imagine a college experience where all students, no matter their major, are required to complete an internship specifically related to their field of study.
Hands-on learning is integral in expanding your knowledge and preparing you for the workforce. It can also show you if you actually want to be in that field or not, because some people think a certain career will be exactly what they want to do, until they actually do it and realize it’s not for them.
Forbes explains the importance of internships by stating, “School teaches skills but doesn't give exposure to what work is like in real life… Not only do you get to learn from experts, you get to pick their brain on how they got to where they are.”
Having an internship was very important for my career path in broadcast journalism because it’s a very demanding field and I needed to prepare myself for that. I did my internship at a news station in Columbus, Ohio, and got to see and do the day-to-day operations of a reporter and truly learn what that grind is like.
I’m so grateful I had a successful internship where I learned many skills that helped me get a job today, but other students are not so fortunate. The E. W. Scripps School of Journalism requires an internship to graduate, but not all majors at OU require that learning experience.
For instance, Communication Studies majors at OU do not need to complete an internship to graduate. Despite the School of Communication Studies stating: “We encourage Communication Studies majors to find internships during your undergraduate experience,” it’s not required. This is a concern because there are many students who will not jump on the opportunity to get an internship if they don’t have to.
It can frustrate COMS students that the school doesn’t require internships because students know the communications field offers such a wide range of jobs, so therefore an internship should be required for them to find their footing in the field.
Along with the journalism school requiring an internship to graduate, they also provide very hands-on experiences in the classroom by producing live newscasts with classes such as Athens MidDay. The business school also requires an internship to graduate, as well as completing the Integrated Business Cluster course. The business cluster allows students to work in groups to create real-world business projects and solutions. The College of Business stated, “You’ll be challenged to apply key concepts that you learn from four disciplines (business communication, management, analytics and information systems, and marketing), and gain hands-on experience.”
Both of these programs offer these experiences and require internships, which have made them nationally ranked programs and some of the best and most popular at OU. Every major should require these same experiences, since these programs have proven to be such successes.
Most internship experiences today are not the stereotypical picture of being overworked for no pay and retrieving other employees' coffee. They are valuable, real-world experiences that genuinely give you an advantage when searching for a job right out of college. According to a Forbes article, “New LinkedIn data has found that interns are almost 25% more likely than non-interns to start a full-time position within 6 months of graduation.”
The thought of an internship can be daunting, but it’s crucial to have an internship completed before you graduate. I encourage all majors at all universities to require some form of an internship to ensure students are getting the most out of their college experience to prepare them for challenges in the workforce.
Kendall Timms is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note the opinions expressed in this column do not represent those of The Post. Want to talk to Kendall about her column? Email her at kt353720@ohio.edu.
