Now I hate to toot my own horn but I think I would consider myself luckier than most undergraduate students. Internships is something that everyone in college is encouraged to do. A chance to get a glimpse into the real world, make sure you know what job you want to one day do and network; internships are an invaluable experience that any undergraduate student can get involved in. But my major does more than just encourage us to take a glimpse into the real world, they require it.
Some student’s take what might be considered the “easier” internships. Ones that you don’t have to travel that far for, the hours are really flexible and you can sometimes knock some homework out while your at it. But when I first started thinking about my possible sites for internships I wanted to try and get as MUCH experience as I possibly could. I wanted to solidify what I thought it was that I wanted to do, wanted to meet people in the field and learn from their experiences. So needless to say I didn’t take the “easiest” of internships. Both of my placements have been in downtown Buffalo which by no means is far but is a little bit more time consuming to get to instead of just up the road at a community center. Last semester I was in the Buffalo City Courts as a C.O.U.R.T. consultant, helping people find alternatives to incarceration through vocational programs and rehab. I even got to try my hand as a liaison over in the Family Court building, sitting in on several child support cases.
This semester I have been shadowing a Child Protective Services Caseworker and I have a lot of mixed emotions about it but most of all I am grateful. This experience has taught me more then any textbook or lecture could have. I have seen the things that I am learning in class put to practical use through personal interactions everyday. Now, I obviously can not divulge much of what I have seen however, everyday I go home with new information, having learned something in the field that day. It is an incredible eye-opener and needless to say, everything in me is grateful for not only this experience but also all of the knowledge that I will be taking away from it.
