Internships Help Students Gain Real-Life Experience
At Kuyper, a key part of every student’s preparation for a career is the completion of an internship—either in the United States or overseas—which aligns with their gifts, interests, passions and career goals. This learning experience brings real-life perspective to what they have been learning in the classroom. It also provides them with excellent opportunities to develop the skills that will help them in their future careers and build their resume—all under the care and supervision of Kuyper’s experienced faculty and through the dedicated staff within each organization where students are placed as interns.
Do Kuyper internships achieve their objective?
To find out the answer to that question we asked students. Here is what some had to say:
- “I learned that working with kids is anything but predictable, that ministry is difficult, that ministry is rewarding, that very few things are simple, and that intercultural ministry is just as much about being sure of who you are as it is about accepting who other people are.”
- “My internship made me more open to new ideas and revealed first-hand the importance of contextualizing the gospel to a particular audience.”
- “As social worker students we put our education to good use during our internship in India, helping to create an annual review process, newsletters, and various social work forms, such as home visit evaluations. We also conducted case studies on some of the children and created a siblings’ support group.”
- “I found that the challenges of my internship, which at one point seemed frustrating, served to actually stretch me and help me to make the most of this time of learning.”
- “My business leadership internship in a strategic marketing and research company with global clients gave me the opportunity to do the business of business at a professional level, making it a truly irreplaceable experience.”