By: Chase Cowan
Many high school students can use internships to get to know different careers and choose one that interests them before selecting a college major. Besides having the chance to study a career in classes, students get the opportunity to have hands-on experience in a workplace, communicate with professionals, and see what different jobs really look like. In Jacksonville and St. Johns County, there are internships for medicine, research, business, sports, aviation, and other areas.
In particular, if a student wants to try his or her hand in medicine, the Mayo Clinic campus in Jacksonville offers specific internships for high school students on its Jacksonville campus. First, Mayo Clinic offers a High School Unpaid Internship Program to juniors and seniors aged 16 and older. The students will complete at least 60 hours under supervision of Mayo Clinic host and will learn about careers in healthcare and workplace expectations. One participator in this program is Amari Rollins, a senior at Beachside High School. He believes, “the program really helped my college applications,” because of the prestige and difficulty getting accepted into it. He learned about the seemingly endless number of careers offered in the healthcare profession.
Moreover, Mayo Clinic offers the SPARK Research Mentorship Program. It was created for rising juniors and seniors of Duval and St. Johns County who have interest in biomedical sciences. The students perform research in Mayo Clinic laboratories under the supervision of Mayo Clinic researchers and become familiar with the research process in science. The research can include such fields as neuroscience, cancer biology, immunology, drug discovery, and artificial intelligence. The students can develop their own research project that can be presented at a science fair.
The most important thing about selecting an internship is to find one which suits a student’s interests.
Also, Mayo Clinic offers Discover Mayo Clinic, which helps high school students from grades 10 through 12 familiarize themselves with careers in healthcare. These internships can help students understand the healthcare field and its wide range of professions.
Those students who are interested in business, hospitality, or sports management can find internships nearby. TPC Sawgrass is an example of a major sports and hospitality organization, providing opportunities to see how the business of professional golf looks like. Also, at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, students can try their skills in hospitality, events, culinary, and golf operations. Such professions involve customer service and management and depend greatly on them.
It is not necessary that an internship is offered by a large and popular national organization. Students can start their search for internships in the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce by contacting any local company, nonprofit, marketing agency, law firm or any other organization and inquire about internship, job shadowing, or career exploration opportunities. Joseph Dellacrosse, a senior at Nease High School, did an internship in California last year teaching people how to snowboard. He stated that “it gave me perspective on the diversity of careers in the world.” The fact that there are so many internships everywhere gives all students a way to have some insight into their future careers.
If a student wants to have an internship in aviation, the internship program offered by the Jacksonville Aviation Authority (JAA) would be suitable for them. According to JAA, interns work on actual projects and assignments and develop their professional skills and knowledge of aviation.
Research programs can also be helpful for those students who want to enter a competitive university. There are such programs as RISE that connect high school students with research mentors. Students who are interested in science can also find internships in local universities, hospitals, and research institutions.
The most important thing about selecting an internship is to find one which suits a student’s interests. A student who is interested in medicine will deepen their experience from laboratory research or a healthcare internship more than any non-medical office internship. If someone is interested in business, they can apply for internships at local companies. The student who plans to become an aviation specialist in future can choose internships in airports or engineering.
Internships do not guarantee admission to any college, but they can help students make better decisions for their future careers. Students will have the opportunity to see how professionals work every day, develop skills in the workplace, and decide whether the career they chose is suitable for them.
Graphic by Aden Seelbinder
