Cyrill Maclan began her internship as “a nervous Southwestern College girl” and ended it presenting her cancer research in Washington D.C. She said an internship opened her eyes and opened the doors.
In the hyper-competitive job market of 2013, students need every edge they can get. Internships are the not-so-secret weapon that have helped many Southwestern College students get a precious “in.”
Maclan, a math major, completed an eight-week paid internship course last summer at UCSD in the Creating Scientists Program. During the 40-hour-a-week internships, students did hands-on work in labs, and ended their day with lectures and presentations by UCSD professors and scientists.
“For you to be able to be working in a lab hands on and then meeting with different professors and doctors, it is interesting,” said Maclan.
Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Cancer, the Creating Scientists Program funds interns for a year to work with an appointed doctor, professor or scientist at UCSD for 10 hours a week. These interns are later given the opportunity to present their findings to the American Association for Cancer Research.
The Pathways Internship Program gives students the opportunity to join NIH in a career position that accentuates long-term training and development. Maclan is still working at UCSD and said she is planning on transferring there in the future.
NIH only accepts 20 students every semester. Applicants have to be at least 16 years of age. Student must be enrolled or plan on enrolling in classes, and have a GPA of 3.0 or above.
Internships are offered anywhere and for every major.
Lyndsay Winkley, a former SWC student, built networking bridges in her various internships and is currently working for the U-T San Diego.
“You aren’t going to get a job without an internship,” said Winkley.
Winkley was editor-in-chief of The SWC Sun in the spring of 2011. She joined the U-T in July 2012 as a North County reporter. She now covers the Del Mar area. Before working for the U-T, Winkley said she worked with Patch.com. She earned dozens of journalism awards from local and national organizations, including the Society of Professional Journalists.
“Internships are a valuable source to networking, expanding knowledge and experience,” said Winkley. “They are a form of showing initiative and responsibility. They look great on resumes and can lead to future jobs.”
English major Josh Macarenas had the opportunity to intern at Hedenkamp Elementary School in Chula Vista.
“Knowing the kids do better because I help them makes me feel great,” he said. “I want to become an English teacher and this internship helped me establish the fact that this is really what I want. I enjoyed being able to interact with other English teachers, review student’s homework and help the teacher.”
Macarenas advises other students to take advantage of local internships because they are a great source of networking and building up your resume.
Neiser Dizolon, business administration major, interned at a Macy’s in Chula Vista as an assistant manager. He said he learned how to manage employees’ time, maintain a well-balanced register and had the opportunity to network with different Macy’s branches.
“Balancing school and my internship wasn’t hard because I provided them with my availability, balanced my time and made sure to limit the internship time to four to six hours on weekdays, giving me time to do homework,” he said.
Maclan and Winkley agreed that internships require energy, commitment and time management. The payoff, though, can be huge.
