Campus Connection

Students take on internships for community growth

Every time UWL senior Mackenzie Jones walks in the door to her internship at the La Crosse YMCA, at least one kid yells her name and runs across the room to greet her. It’s a pattern that keeps her coming back to work. “That’s a great way to start your day,” she says. The majority of College of Liberal Studies students in nonprofit internships are motivated to do the work because they’re earning valuable experience and contributing to a cause they believe in. [caption id="attachment_47678" align="alignright" width="350"] UWL senior Mackenzie Jones with a child at her YMCA internship.[/caption] Jones, a volunteer intern at the La Crosse Area Family YMCA’s youth engagement program, helps provide a safe and supportive place for community at-risk youth to go. Although her job can be stressful, she’s motivated by the strong connection she is making with area kids. The job is affirmation that she’s on the right path as she pursues a psychology major and an at-risk child and youth minor. Jones aims to one day become a school psychologist. “This gives me an opportunity to practice good listening skills and how to talk to kids in a way that they’ll respond to,” she says. UWL Senior Chai Yang also likes helping at-risk kids. He took an internship at Big Brothers Big Sisters of the 7 Rivers Region, which is dedicated to helping area at-risk kids find role models. “I wanted to get some experience working for a nonprofit program, especially when the focus is on helping out a younger generation,” he says. Yang, who does communication and community outreach for the organization, aims to pursue graduate school and a career in social work. The political science major says experience with a non-profit will help him stand out. [caption id="attachment_47680" align="alignright" width="649"] Chai Yang, a UWL political science major, took an internship at Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the Seven Rivers Region.[/caption] UWL Senior Laura Berry fell in love with the mission of the non-profit GROW La Crosse while volunteering at its Fall Festival on the Farm. Afterward, she did some online research to learn more about the organization that runs school gardens and farm camps to connect kids to healthy food and nature. Berry, an exercise and sports science major and professional writing minor, contacted the organization to see how she could be of service. She ended up creating her own internship centered around gaining writing experience for her professional writing minor. [caption id="attachment_47682" align="alignright" width="350"] Laura Berry, an exercise and sports science major and professional writing minor, landed a non-profit internship at GROW La Crosse. Her roles range from teaching students in the garden and managing media, to digging in the dirt.[/caption] Berry doesn’t get a check, but that’s OK, she says. Serving a non-profit means all of her time and energy benefit the kids they serve, not someone’s pocketbook. Meanwhile, she’s learned new skills such as blogging and photography. She hopes the strong communication experience helps her stand out among physical therapy graduates applying for graduate school. Berry is grateful for Karolyn Bald, in UWL Career Services, who helped her rework her resume to land the GROW La Crosse internship.

The Career Services Connection

For more than two decades, Bald has helped CLS students with resumes, job searches and establishing internship credit. Jones, Yang and Berry all earned academic credit with help from Career Services. UWL Career Services works with students, faculty and employers to coordinate between 800-900 internships annually. About half are from the College of Liberal Studies. While any work or volunteer experience is valuable, an internship provides a more structured experience that is educational in nature and ties back to academics, says Bald,’97 and ’99. “It helps students process what they are doing and what it means academically,” she says. During an internship for a congressman as a UWL student, Bald realized that although she loved politics, working in a political office was not for her. She also learned skillsets needed to improve professionally. “It took a long time to realize that I didn’t waste a semester,” she says. “I figured out a lot of things I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t had that experience.” She urges students to get as much diverse experience as they can during college. “The sooner you do it and the more you do it, the better decisions you’ll be able to make when you take the next step after college,” she says.