Deciding to attend the University of Houston-Clear Lake was an important decision to make and deciding to become a communication major was another. It was an exciting time for me because I felt one step closer to accomplishing a goal I set for myself – to have a career in public relations.
I had everything in line to transfer to UHCL, and the only thing left to do was to meet with a transfer advisor. It was in that meeting that I realized UHCL communication majors are required to complete a semester-long internship.
I began to panic, and I even contemplated changing majors. “It’s unfair,” “I don’t have time for an internship” and “they can’t make anyone do that” were a few of the printable thoughts that came to mind. At 26, I already had a job and a child; I just could not see how I would ever be able to complete an internship, and I did not understand why it was so important. However, despite all of my doubts, I stayed in the communication program and decided I was going to make it work. Little did I know, the decision to ‘make it work’ was the best decision I made during my college career.
Completing an internship has a variety of advantages. Internships can help you build experience, skill and confidence in your work. It is never a bad thing to have experience, and lack of experience could possibly hinder finding a job or even the opportunity for an interview. A 2016 survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that interns have a 72.7 percent chance of a job offer with the company they completed the internship with, which is the highest it has been since the pre-recession market. Not only does an internship help you gain experience, but it allows you to ‘test drive’ a career. With internships, you have the ability to see if what you are interested in is what you truly want as a career. Completing an internship can also help you network with professionals in your field and acquire references.
This semester, I had the privilege of completing an internship at Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) in the marketing and public relations department. My internship taught me things I would not have been able to learn in a university setting. Throughout the semester, there were days that I truly forgot I was an intern. The people I worked with never once treated me like I was ‘the intern.’ They treated me like a colleague, and they wanted to ensure that I was learning and gaining every piece of knowledge that I possibly could out of my internship.
The assistant director of the department told me from the beginning that she hoped by the end of my internship, I felt confident going into my future career. Soon after starting her career with TCH, she created the department’s internship program. She explained that the reason she created the program was because when she was in school the internships she completed did not prepare her for a career, and did not give her the experience she needed. Because of her negative experience with her own internships, she did not feel that confidence she had hoped for upon graduation. Her idea of an internship is one that teaches you to think on your own, and not only gives insight to a career, but teaches you through experiencing the career firsthand.
After completing the program, I can truly say I feel confident. I can also say the skills I learned through completing an internship are talents I could not have learned in a classroom. During my time at TCH, I was writing articles on behalf of doctors and professionals, studying Google analytics, attending media shoots, planning the marketing for a hospital event and much more. At times, I could not believe they were letting me, ‘the intern,’ do half of the things I did for them, but because they had confidence in me, I gained confidence in myself and confidence in the ability I had to complete the work I was given.
As a student who once thought that the internship requirement was the worst, most inconvenient thing ever, I now admit that I was completely wrong for making that assumption. This weekend I will be graduating from UHCL, and if I could give one piece of advice to students, it would be to complete at least one internship, even if it is not required. A classroom can teach you many things, but an internship can teach you skills you didn’t know you needed
