While going to college and taking your major's classes is important to a successful future in your dream career field, the experience gained from an internship is something that no classroom can provide for you.
After having not one, but two internships this past summer, I realized that there is way more to learn outside of a classroom. Being able to see all that goes into a radio show and running a business has helped me learn way more about what my future could hold than I ever imagined.
Interning for a new company that has major ties with Arthur Blank and the sports industry showed me all that I did not know went into running a business. Seeing how the company had to get started by creating a website and reaching out to the public taught me more than a teacher ever could. While teachers help prepare you for the real world, working in the real world is really the only way that anyone can learn and grow to be successful in their field.
In addition to interning for a newer company, I was also an intern for a new radio show. I was able to experience the building of a popular show from the ground up. I was able to have a part in almost everything. From helping find advertisers to thinking of a voice-over for the show to even being a part of the show, I was able to really get my feet wet and learn more about what interests me and what all goes into being successful in my future career.
The experience that both of my internships provided to me may have been very different, but they both gave me experiences that I could not have gotten in a classroom. While getting good grades and being active on campus is important to obtaining a future career, experience is something that all professionals are looking for in hopeful employees. They want a new employee who isn’t going to be a deer in headlights, and internships, no matter how big or small they are, provide a college student with the experience needed to be more knowledgeable in a specific field. Even if the internships aren’t exactly what one dreams of doing in their future, any bit of experience in various fields around their future career is better than nothing.
