Students learned about the vocational and personal benefits of internships from their peers during a business chapel on Oct. 3.
presenting their experiences
The Crowell School of Business hosted the chapel, with four students presenting their experiences with internships. Their work took some of them out of state or the country, to gain experience laboring toward their future careers.
Senior marketing major Katie Genung took the mic first and spoke on her internship at Compassion International, a non-profit child sponsorship organization based in Colorado Springs. Genung spent 10 weeks in Colorado Springs, and one week in Colombia seeing how Compassion International operates in other countries. They have families in first world countries sponsoring millions of children in third world countries.
Genung also shared about the nature of her work with the organization. She was able to put her knowledge and training as a marketing major to use in a professional environment.
“I was doing a lot of various projects. One of my favorite projects that I got to do was partner with another intern, and her and I reimagined Compassion marketing toward 18 to 24 year olds, because right now it’s very much towards an older generation,” Genung said to the audience.
Senior international business major Tracy Garrett then spoke on her 11-week internship program with Unleashed Internships. During the first two weeks, the organization provided classes focused on entrepreneurship. Her internship focused on social media marketing, teaching English and designing a website for a bakery in the area where she was located.
A true learning experience
Senior accounting major and Student Government Association vice president of finance, technology and HR Keaton Kurr then delivered his presentation on how his internship helped him learn skills needed at the workplace.
“I did an internship at an accounting firm this summer in Costa Mesa for eight weeks. I did a lot of preparing tax returns,” Kurr said to the audience.
The last speaker to talk about their internship experience was junior marketing major Tom Franicevich. He did a 12-week long internship at a company in San Francisco.
While students learned skills needed for their respective internships, Genung also believes her internship allowed her to learn more about herself and her calling.
“As a Christian, you literally experience the deepest and the greatest of joys,” Genung said to the audience. “But you also experience the deepest and greatest of brokenness. You can see the sin in the world that is so evident, but you also know the hope and the glory of the Lord. With my internship, I really saw that.”
