Internships and Co-ops

One major benefit of experiential learning was it helped me shape my future and direct me in the correct path.  I learned so much. At Lambda Legal, the interns were provided mentorship by connecting them with industry leaders from the path that they wanted to choose.  My favorite moment during the experience  was working with people with a similar goal and commitment. 

My experience with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, gave me the opportunity to pioneer my own work and shed light on certain things with the office to provide more insight. I truly felt as if I was making an impact and a difference with the work I was trying to do alongside these higher education professionals.   Students, go for what you want! I cannot stress this enough.

I had the incredible chance to combine my passion for the environment with my passion for graphic design, and that has given me so much confidence in finding a career path that will allow me to combine them as well.

Working at the Utica Zoo has given me many interesting experiences. Helping and performing "Keeper Talks" has increased my verbal communication and presentation abilities. All the educational classes and vet procedures that I attended, benefited me because they were new things I was able to learn about zoo environments and animals.

My advice to students doing an internship is to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Any opportunities to learn something new or step outside of your bubble should be taken advantage of. These experiences are supposed to show you if you would like your potential career choice so learning and doing as many of the job responsibilities and roles will help you determine if this is the right career path for you or if you need to change things.

My advice to other interns is to pick something you have a passion for and could really see yourself doing in the future, it is like a test run so you can get a real-world feel for it. I learned what it takes to set up a big scale event and how to communicate with the press and important figures in the community. I learned that this is what I love to do. I am now on the Board of Directors for Friends of Fort Ontario because of my work with this internship.

Being the Sports Intern for CNY Central was such an amazing experience. I learned so many hands-on skills that aren’t always learned in the classroom. This experience helped me solidify the fact that I am pursuing a degree in a field that I love and am so passionate about.