Students engage in practical work opportunities to enhance skills valued by employers, participate in professional development opportunities, and cultivate a professional network.
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Academic Internship Outcomes
During your academic internship experience, you are expected to:
- Apply classroom learning related to your major or minor
- Articulate skills developed and/or enhanced by the internship experience
- Identify professional development opportunities to expand knowledge, understanding, and abilities
- Establish connections with industry-related professionals
Reflection Activities
First, clearly identify and describe your Academic Internship. Then, select and incorporate evidence that demonstrates you achieved a majority of the outcomes. To do so, you will need to complete at least 2 of the reflection activities listed below. As this is a digital portfolio, avoid relying only on writing. Consider providing pictures, video, or other media to demonstrate skills obtained or enhanced by this experience.
You can use video to respond to some of the prompts, so long as you also include materials you produced during the experience.
- Reflect on the relationship between prior coursework/learning and the duties and responsibilities of your internship by comparing the content of at least 2 previous courses with the duties and responsibilities of your internship. What were your position responsibilities? How did your college course work prepare you for this type of work? What prior knowledge/experience were you missing prior to your internship? How did your internship experience affect your career and academic goals?
- Reflect on professional development opportunities in which you have participated during your internship by providing a brief description of each opportunity, including the networking connections made during the event. What new knowledge, skills, and abilities did you gain by participating in these professional development opportunities? Describe how these opportunities have shaped your views of your major/minor and your career goals. If possible, include pictures or video of the event(s).
- Conduct at least one informational interview with a professional in your field. Provide the interview questions/answers. Describe why you chose to interview this professional in particular. Then reflect on the impact of this information on your career goals by providing a paragraph outlining your goals now that your internship has ended.