Internships Simplified

by Travis Rocha

The biggest thing that has been looming over my head during my entire undergraduate career is that I “need” an internship before graduation. To be fair, no one “needs” an internship, but everyone should definitely want one because internships often lead to job offers. They also offer extremely helpful work experience to anyone who is brand new to the job market (which pretty much all college graduates will be). The internship process, despite many interactions with the Center for Career Planning, still seemed a bit intimidating to me, but I finally pulled myself together and spent a day sending out applications.

Christopher Newport uses Handshake, which enables users to apply for jobs and internships anywhere across the country. I’ve used it plenty over the past year, so getting started was easy. I searched up different keywords for the internships I was seeking out and ended up finding seven positions for over the summer that greatly interested me. Most of them involved social media, public relations or marketing in some way. Though, many of the positions are actually quite different from one another, but all are equally exciting. Living in New York City one day is a life goal of mine, so I applied to a handful of internships that would involve me staying there for a month or so.

I truly feel my life unfolding before my eyes. Christopher Newport puts its students on a path to success. It’s as simple as logging into your Handshake account and checking out all the opportunities laid out for you and then picking and choosing from there. Plus, there’s no rush. The Center for Career Planning is always open for students to schedule an appointment, even at the eleventh hour (which, as a rising senior, I’m fast approaching). What I value most about Christopher Newport is their commitment to ensuring students are headed towards where they want to go in life. There’s a great support system at Christopher Newport and even though the application process can be intimidating, I rest easy knowing that there are tons of people (both faculty and peers) I can count on to help me through anything I need and ensure I reach my goals.