Meet Laurin from Minnesota and Learn About Internships

The spring and summer months are common seasons for internship opportunities for college or high school students. An admissions career in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at Johns Hopkins University provided me with the chance to work with many talented student interns. An internship in a college admissions office provides daily work experience and an “insider’s view” of the profession of college admissions. Laurin Wolf is a former Johns Hopkins Admissions Intern who hails from Minnesota, a Joyce Ivy Foundation state. She added several internships to her undergraduate years as she explored her interest in professional writing.  I invited Lauren to share her thoughts about the value of an internship. Her thoughts follow:

To be completely honest, I didn’t spend much time thinking about internships prior to college. When I contemplated the next big step in my education, my thoughts revolved primarily around which classes I would take and which major I would ultimately choose. While these things are certainly important, I soon realized the immense value of taking the skills I was learning inside the classroom and applying them in a setting outside of it. Internships allow students to explore a range of careers that may follow their course of study. As much as I enjoyed my creative writing major, I knew that life as a novelist, poet, or freelance writer wasn’t my path, and after an internship with a local newspaper I knew I wasn’t meant for that world, either.  My internship at Under Armour allowed me to see how my writing abilities could be used in a business environment, and I soon discovered that this was what I loved.

Internships are also a great way to learn about networking and other professional skills. I got to know one of my marketing professors very well, and when a former student of hers who worked at Under Armour reached out to her regarding potential interns, she knew me and my interests well enough to realize I would be a good fit. Building relationships with professors or other professionals in your area of interest (think alums, parents, etc.) is a great way to find out about opportunities that may otherwise pass by unexplored. Once I started my internship, I did my best to seek out new experiences, opportunities and connections within the company.

It isn’t too early to start thinking about internships! Another great thing about these experiences is that they can take all different forms—you don’t have to be at a big company or organization to have an internship. The more you do, the more you’ll learn, and the closer you’ll be to figuring out what excites you most.

Laurin’s internship at Under Armour was an opportunity for her to demonstrate her writing ability in a business setting. The experience was mutually beneficial as Laurin now works as a Communications Coordinator for Under Armour. With careful planning and advice from high school counselors and teachers or college faculty, staff and alumni, an internship may provide a valuable and practical experience to complement academic courses during high school or college years. Think of it as a view of a career opportunity. As Laurin mentioned, it is a step to "figuring out what excites you most."