Chicago Semester

Wondering about your internship? Read this!

Posted by Leslie Lehner in Internships in Staff Stories | Jul 27, 2010

For those who have applied and been accepted to our program, you may be waiting in anxious anticipation of the day you arrive (and you should be—it’s going to be a fun semester!) Until then, though, you’re probably wondering what we’re up to this summer. Are we lounging on the beautiful Chicago beach waiting for your arrival? Are we sitting in our offices bored out of our minds without any students to entertain us? Well, as the Internship Coordinator for Chicago Semester, I can say with certainty that the internship team has been working the summer away to find great internship opportunities for the fall “general” students (anyone other than nursing, social work, or student teacher).
 
For the curious ones of you out there, here’s an idea of what our process is like:
Shortly after accepting you to the Chicago Semester program, we read your application very carefully and wrote a description of what we thought you were hoping to do in an internship, keeping in mind what might or might not be available. Each of you then approved that description or modified it or told us you changed your mind or…whatever. Janelle and I then put all of you into groups based on your interests and started thinking about different possibilities for you. We divided the large group in half so that each of us is working with half of the general students.
 
In early June, we started sending your resumes, internship interest descriptions and a summary of your references to various sites. We’ve been hearing back from sites ever since. We’ve also continued to add different sites as they have contacted us or as we’ve heard from you about something you’d like us to consider. By the time you arrive in late August, we will know of the 2 -3 places you will be interviewing, and we’ll send you off to meet people and consider different options. While interviewing and choosing an internship site is a focus of orientation week, it’s just one of the exciting things you’ll do during the first week. You’ll be amazed at how much you learn and accomplish in one short week!
 
For the upcoming spring students who are reading this and are anxiously awaiting your time in Chicago, don’t worry; we haven’t forgotten about you! We’ve begun to work on writing your internship descriptions, and we’ll be sending those out to you by the beginning of September.
 
Now, for a bit about me. I’ve been with Chicago Semester for 5 ½ years or 11 semesters of great students! I love the opportunity I have to work with many of you and get to know about your hopes and dreams in the internship area. It’s great when we can find something that lines up with your interests perfectly. The satisfaction of opening doors for many of you is very rewarding!
 
Prior to coming to Chicago Semester, I worked as a Speech Language Pathologist with adults with neurological impairment. When it came time for a career switch, I found Chicago Semester and have truly enjoyed the experience of working with many of you to find an interesting internship opportunity. I am excited to meet all of you and to welcome you to this great city!

Photo Caption: Leslie talking with a Chicago Semester Student.