Chicago Semester

Janelle’s Journey to Chicago and CS

Posted by Janelle Kibbe in Internships in Staff Stories | Jun 16, 2010

Three summers ago I prepared to spend a semester in the Windy City. I shopped for business attire, purchased my first laptop, and packed a suitcase for a week of orientation at the Hotel Allegro. I had heard from a friend about another Calvin student who would be attending the same semester as me, so when it came time to go, I got in a car with her and her parents and headed toward the big city.

It was a quiet ride, full of nerves. I remember thinking that I hadn’t thought my decision through too much; when my advisor told me that spring that I should consider Chicago Semester, I went ahead and signed up, not thinking too much about what that would really look like. And now that I was in the car, on my way, I realized that I hadn’t even visited Chicago in years. I didn’t know what to expect, and I was wondering what I had gotten myself into.

Driving the covered streets of Wabash, I realized how unique a city Chicago is, and it made me hopeful of the semester to come. I arrived at Hotel Allegro nervous, but excited about the adventure ahead. And boy was that first week an adventure—meeting the CS staff, taking the CTA for the first time, finding a roommate and apartment (our very own apartment in Chicago-sweet!), interviewing at potential internship sites, and just taking it all in.

That first week it really started to hit me how life-changing an experience I was embarking on; it was like I had crossed a line and stepped into “the real world,” where learning was more than just memorizing facts and writing essays. Rather, learning was about experiencing, about studying the city and self, and about making decisions about the kind of person I want to be and the kind of life I want to live. I’ll be honest; it was terrifying. But, it was also so completely empowering. Having successfully survived, and even thrived in, a semester in Chicago, I just want to say, “Trust me, it’s worth it.”

Nearly three years later, I’m looking back at that experience as the Internship Associate at Chicago Semester. I have the privilege of helping students find internships that are interesting, challenging, and meaningful to them (among other varied and equally interesting tasks).

Currently at Chicago Semester, we have wrapped up our Spring 2010 semester, and we are already looking ahead to the Fall 2010 semester. We’re also working on hiring a new recruiter, redesigning our website, getting more involved with social media, developing service-learning in our courses, and many other exciting projects! As we blog, we hope that you’ll come to learn more about our staff here at CS,  our program, and what we’re working on…so stay in touch!

For more information about our program or my experience at Chicago Semester, contact me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).