How COVID-19 Has Changed Internships for Three Students
2020-12-13
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1An internship is a way for many students to explore different careers and gain valuable skills during their education.
2It is a work position for a short period of time and could be paid or unpaid.
3More importantly, students who had work internships received more job offers after graduation than those without.
4The National Association of Colleges and Employers reported that graduating students with internships in the Class of 2019 received 1.17 job offers as compared to 0.98 for those without the experience.
5During the COVID-19 health crisis, almost all internships have had to adjust to the new environment.
6Some workplaces have simply cancelled their internships.
7Others moved them online for work and learning.
8The Ohio State University (OSU) is the largest public university in Ohio with nearly 68,000 students.
9Around 75 percent of students will do an internship while they are in school.
10OSU offers a competitive internship program for students studying government policy.
11The internship program is called the Washington Academic Internship Program (WAIP).
12The program helps its students to study and work in Washington, DC.
13Like many others, the program had to move to a virtual learning environment this year.
14This fall, only 11 students are attending the program.
15Alyssa Fuller, Nicholas Fulton, and Claire Palmer are three students attending the WAIP program this fall.
16Fulton joins the program from Kent and Fuller checks in from another Ohio city, Columbus.
17And Palmer is nearly 4,000 kilometers across the country in Sacramento, California.
18Alyssa Fuller had to adjust to the feeling of being alone and disconnected during the internship.
19She told VOA, "this was a bit of a change, working alone in my one-bedroom apartment with no one around me. I think I really did have to get used to the feeling of my team being there but not really there."
20One of the biggest ways that COVID-19 has changed our daily lives is the way we communicate.
21Nicholas Fulton told VOA that he had to adjust to communicating through e-mail and phone calls every day.
22He said it is difficult to get his personality across to his supervisors and build relationships.
23He also said it is important to communicate in an internship so you receive work.
24Since many internships are unpaid, students will often take a paying job during their internship.
25Interns find it important to balance their time.
26Claire Palmer said she finds balancing her time to be a skill she is learning while being an intern.
27Palmer also offered some advice for future interns.
28She said, "it's important to be able to tell like when stuff needs to be good and when stuff needs to just get done, because those are two very different types of tasks."
29Workplaces have found that they need to change the work they give their interns.
30Usually, many interns are given simple jobs requiring no special skill.
31Since interns are working from home, they cannot answer the phones, do the usual paperwork or simple jobs.
32Fulton told VOA "you're encouraged to work on other projects. So that's a really good thing that you'll have your hands in a wider range of things."
33He continued by saying that interns are learning new skills that can help them in the future.
34For example, students are getting more computer skills that can be useful in professional work.
35Alyssa praised the WAIP program for attempting to give students the "DC experience."
36The program has organized events, connected students with people, and given resources they may need, although, virtually.
37I'm Greg Stachel.
1An internship is a way for many students to explore different careers and gain valuable skills during their education. 2It is a work position for a short period of time and could be paid or unpaid. More importantly, students who had work internships received more job offers after graduation than those without. 3The National Association of Colleges and Employers reported that graduating students with internships in the Class of 2019 received 1.17 job offers as compared to 0.98 for those without the experience. 4During the COVID-19 health crisis, almost all internships have had to adjust to the new environment. Some workplaces have simply cancelled their internships. Others moved them online for work and learning. 5Washington DC internships moved online 6The Ohio State University (OSU) is the largest public university in Ohio with nearly 68,000 students. Around 75 percent of students will do an internship while they are in school. OSU offers a competitive internship program for students studying government policy. 7The internship program is called the Washington Academic Internship Program (WAIP). The program helps its students to study and work in Washington, DC. Like many others, the program had to move to a virtual learning environment this year. This fall, only 11 students are attending the program. 8Alyssa Fuller, Nicholas Fulton, and Claire Palmer are three students attending the WAIP program this fall. Fulton joins the program from Kent and Fuller checks in from another Ohio city, Columbus. And Palmer is nearly 4,000 kilometers across the country in Sacramento, California. 9Alyssa Fuller had to adjust to the feeling of being alone and disconnected during the internship. She told VOA, "this was a bit of a change, working alone in my one-bedroom apartment with no one around me. I think I really did have to get used to the feeling of my team being there but not really there." 10One of the biggest ways that COVID-19 has changed our daily lives is the way we communicate. 11Nicholas Fulton told VOA that he had to adjust to communicating through e-mail and phone calls every day. He said it is difficult to get his personality across to his supervisors and build relationships. He also said it is important to communicate in an internship so you receive work. 12Since many internships are unpaid, students will often take a paying job during their internship. Interns find it important to balance their time. Claire Palmer said she finds balancing her time to be a skill she is learning while being an intern. 13Palmer also offered some advice for future interns. She said, "it's important to be able to tell like when stuff needs to be good and when stuff needs to just get done, because those are two very different types of tasks." 14Workplaces have found that they need to change the work they give their interns. Usually, many interns are given simple jobs requiring no special skill. Since interns are working from home, they cannot answer the phones, do the usual paperwork or simple jobs. 15Fulton told VOA "you're encouraged to work on other projects. So that's a really good thing that you'll have your hands in a wider range of things." He continued by saying that interns are learning new skills that can help them in the future. For example, students are getting more computer skills that can be useful in professional work. 16Alyssa praised the WAIP program for attempting to give students the "DC experience." The program has organized events, connected students with people, and given resources they may need, although, virtually. 17I'm Greg Stachel. 18Gregory Stachel wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. 19__________________________________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21adjust - v. to change in order to work or do better in a new situation 22virtual - adj. existing or occurring on computers or on the Internet 23apartment - n. a usually rented room or set of rooms that is part of a building and is used as a place to live 24personality - n. the set of emotional qualities or ways of behaving, that makes a person different from other people 25stuff - n. materials, supplies, or equipment 26task - n. a piece of work that has been given to someone: a job for someone to do 27special - adj. different from what is normal or usual 28encourage - v. to make (someone) more determined, hopeful, or confident 29range - n. a group or collection of different things or people that are usually similar in some way 30What do you think of internship programs during COVID-19? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com.