Fairfield Now Spring 2008
Internships: A Taste of the Real World
By Nina Riccio
Inspired by a course he took on Nicaragua in his sophomore year, Marco Ambrosio '07 decided to design his own major: social justice in Latin America. "It was interdisciplinary, covering language, politics, history, and economics," he said. "I wanted to take courses over the summer, and my advisor (Dr. Marie-Agnés Sourieau, director of Latin-American and Caribbean Studies) suggested I go abroad." That he did, traveling to Nicaragua several times and parlaying his work with CISAS, a non-governmental organization (NGO) with a holistic approach to public health, into an internship that, in no small measure, shaped his life.
While in Nicaragua, Ambrosio worked with an HIV-positive group of people ranging in age from 3 to 60, helping them not only with their health issues but also in dealing with the social stigma that comes along with the virus. "At one point, I was on the track for medical school," he said. "But this internship showed me the affect an NGO can have. It opened my eyes to different ways of doing things.
I was always the one with a map all planned out, but now things are different." How different? Ambrosio has spent the months since his graduation traveling between India, Thailand, and Latin America, and, in the future, to Africa, gathering information on how HIV/AIDS is handled in different parts of the world. He's hopes the book he's writing will be out sometime next year. In the meantime, medical school is on hold.
Internships have long been a part of the college experience, but Fairfield students have been taking advantage of the real world experience they provide as never before, often graduating with two or three under their belts. While most take place during the semester, Kathy Tellis, director of internships for the Dolan School of Business remarks, "We've seen the number of students doing summer internships double." Students are encouraged to do internships, she said, because it helps with career exploration. By way of example, Tellis added, "Marketing is a pretty broad field. Do you want to do marketing for a financial services company? A media company? A nonprofit? An internship can help you decide."
As a sophomore, mechanical engineering major Tia Ferrarotti '08 chose to transfer to Fairfield largely because she wanted to do several internships, and an interview with Dr. Bill Taylor, director of internships for the School of Engineering, confirmed that she would be supported.
"Dr. Taylor was just amazing about sending opportunities my way," she said. Ferrarotti is now a veteran of three internships; her last two, at Playtex and at Covidien (formerly U.S. Surgical), helped direct her to a different career path. "I initially chose to study engineering because I've always liked math and science," she said. "At Playtex, I put my engineering skills to work using a CAD program to make prototypes of products, then would upload the specifications into a prototype machine that built it." The work was interesting and the internship was a great experience, she said, but ultimately not what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. "I found I don't like sitting in front of a computer and having so little human interaction for most of the day." Her next placement, in the research and development department at Covidien, had her scrubbing in for surgery, analyzing animal tissue, and presenting her data. She was even able to attend a human cadaver clinic run for surgical residents so that they could practice using surgical instruments. "Between the lab work and surgery, it was very exciting. I learned I worked well with instruments, and I'm now thinking about medical school and a career in surgery," she said.
Not only do faculty encourage internships, in some fields they've become a necessary part of a graduate's resume. Although each discipline has its own prerequisites, in most cases the student must maintain a certain grade level and work a minimum of 12 hours a week. The job itself must be approved to ensure that it will provide the student with real experience and insight into the field. Students generally write an essay reflective of their experience and what they learned, and some are required to attend a weekly internship class to discuss their on-the-job experiences. Most internships will earn the student three credits; very few pay.
Though he acknowledges "it's easy to place students in an internship position because Fairfield students have done so well in the past," Dr. David Gudelunas, director of internships for the Department of Communication, is quick to add that he won't pave the road for his students. "Part of the challenge for them is picking up the phone, calling, setting up interviews, and finding out who owns the company. The more work they put into getting it, the better the experience will be."
Fairfield's location is a plus for students in many fields, particularly finance, marketing, and communication. "We're a train ride away from the communication capital of the world!" said Dr. Gudelunas with his trademark enthusiasm. "The best universities in the country don't afford their students the opportunity to hop on a commuter train and go into Manhattan twice a week. In the summer, kids come from all over the country to intern in New York, yet our students have two semesters to take advantage of the opportunity." Solid writing and communication skills, the courage to take the initiative, and a sense of dedication to their jobs are what he likes to see, he said. "Some of these students get up at 4:30 a.m. to make the train and work on a morning TV show."
Senior Kate Dillon is just the kind of student he's referring to. Last semester, she was a production assistant at Fox News, a job that began with duties such as organizing and doing research for travel, health, and beauty stories, and then evolved into script writing. This semester, she'll be at NBC's iVillage. "Any hassles with getting up early and spending a couple of days a week away from campus are well worth it," she said. "My boss has won several Emmy Awards - it's an amazing opportunity to work with someone who has taken a career path that I hope to take and has been so successful. It's gotten me passionate about working in media. And as a senior it's great to be making contacts that might eventually lead to a job offer."
Of course, not all internships involve a trip to the big city. "Sometimes, it's the smaller companies that provide the most interesting experiences because the student is required to wear all hats," said Tellis. English major Bill Klump '08, for example, covered high school sporting events for the Connecticut Post, and chemistry major Marc Hansel '08 has spent two semesters at Ridgefield, Connecticut's Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, working in the histology and research and development areas and helping him to focus his sites on a career in clinical research. As for nursing students, their "internships" during the semester are actually the clinical rotations they spend in local hospitals, clinics, and in Bridgeport's Health Promotion Center.
"As a Jesuit, liberal arts school, one of the things we do well is to teach students how to think," said Dr. Gudelunas. "A lot of schools have courses in communication in which students learn about media buying, advertising, etc. We don't. We teach students how to think more broadly about media theory. And if they can think, they can learn all the skills they need for a job within weeks."
"My experiences taught me that it's not only okay, it's appreciated when you ask questions," added Ferrarotti. "I felt a sense of ownership and really took pride in my work. It gave me the confidence to go with my instincts." And that, any professor would agree, is a life skill that can't be taught in a classroom.