"ARE YOU graduating this year?" "Yes." "What are you going to do with the rest of your life?" It is the dreaded question fourth years are faced with by peers, professors and those prying relatives we all saw over Thanksgiving break. For many who have pursued liberal arts degrees for the past four years, the thought of actually finding a job in a professional career field even slightly relevant to your major can be quite daunting.
However, this task doesn't have to be a Herculean feat. One of the primary ways to lessen the burden of deciding on your career path for the next 40 or so years is to try out a few different jobs before choosing one; that is, through internships. Internships are one of the most valuable activities you can participate in during your time in college, yet they are not as widely promoted by the University as they could be and should be.
University Career Services does a superb job of assisting students who seek help in finding and securing internships, but many students simply aren't aware of related fields that offer internships or even the opportunities and benefits that internships afford. According to Catherine Gillespie, the assistant director for experiential learning and the pre-law advisor at University Career Services, UCS had approximately 1,190 interactions with students seeking out internships during the 2004 - 2005 academic year, of which an estimated three-quarters were from the College of Arts and Sciences. This is a relatively small percentage in terms of the total undergraduate student body of about 13,400. The solution to this problem involves more than UCS; professors and others in the University community should play a substantial part as well.
Internships are worthwhile because they give students a whole different perspective than they receive in a classroom setting. Internship programs allow students to witness first-hand the application of the knowledge imparted to them by their professors. You can read books about the intricacies and processes of government, for example, but your understanding of this is not truly comprehensive until you actually work on Capitol Hill for a few months.
This is not to say that internships should be placed above a liberal arts education; rather, they are both key components to a well-rounded education and a guiding compass in making crucial post-college career decisions.As the philosopher Michael Oakeshott argued in some of his works about the elements of knowledge, true mastery of a subject consists of technical knowledge, learned by reading great works, but also practical knowledge, which is only acquired by experience.
Professors should recognize this and do their share to advise students of ways to gain this type of knowledge, which greatly enriches students' perception of a subject while providing them with a glimpse of various careers to help narrow down their interests. Some progress has been made to inform students of internship positions through academic channels. UCS hands out flyers about career possibilities by major during the annual majors fair. UCS has also appointed liaisons to the different departments in order to relay career related information. Some departments forward these notices to their students.
However, much more could be done to expose students to a world of career options. While liberal arts classes generally aren't focused on specific career paths, professors could hand out a list of suggested career fields and internship opportunities relevant to the class and encourage interested students to discuss it further in office hours. Professors could also invite a guest speaker involved in work associated with the course curriculum. The advantage to the students would be two-fold: students would be more informed of various opportunities and they would have a better understanding of why the material they are studying is germane to their future.
Gillespie noted in a phone interview, "As a career counselor, I would love to see more emphasis placed on valuable experience." She said that UCS would welcome the "idea of professors in the classroom spending time on how this [class material] relates to the world of work." The vast majority of lectures obviously should be devoted entirely to studying the subject in depth, but one lecture or even half of a lecture that touches on career paths to explore would be a tremendous service to students. College should be an institution designed principally for students to treasure and expand their knowledge base for its intrinsic value, but thinking ahead to the future every now and then doesn't hurt.
Another practical way to promote internships is to grant academic credit for programs. Currently, the University provides credit in the psychology and sociology departments primarily to rising fourth-years through the University Internship Program. But, younger students applying for internships requiring academic credit sometimes encounter difficulty in finding a way to earn credit. Additionally, few majors offer academic credit for internships outside of the University Internship Program.
Bridging the gap between technical knowledge and practical knowledge is something that the University should strive to achieve. A solid liberal arts education coupled with a firm grasp of career options is a combination that will prove to be wholly beneficial to University students.
Whitney Blake is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. She can be reached at wblake@cavalierdaily.com.
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