Readings

One of the first texts that I read before I began my internship was "The Successful Internship" by Mary King and Frederick Sweitzer. This book really opened me up to looking at an internship from a career development standpoint. As I was entering into my internship I was a bit disappointed that it was unpaid but this book really changed my viewpoint on this. This book dressed three important aspects that I took with me throughout my internship experience: Attitude is everything, Experiential Education, and Career Development. This book taught me the value in interning and taking what I was learning and applying it to my career goals. 

The book addressed Attitude. Attitude is not something that I think of when I enter an internship or even do my work as an intern but the book really focused on it here. This book took attitudes and related it to self-understanding. "You are a unique individual and your uniqueness influences how people react and connect with you, as well as,  how you react and connect with certain situations and with people" (p. 13). The way people connect with one another, and how people experience an internship does have to do with attitude and how you are as an individual. As mentioned previously, I was a bit disappointed that my internship was unpaid but I could not let that effect how I behaved or reacted during my internship because then my internship would have served to purpose to me or to the people that employed me. As I came to understand myself and who I am as a person and translate my experience into experiential learning. 

​

The other part of this book that really stood out to me was the concept of experiential learning. According to the book, experiential learning involves learning activities that "actively engage and allow for a critical reflection" (p. 10). To me, this meant not only being completely present in my internship but also "being active" in what I am being taught. So for example when I was confirming the areas for townhall meetings. I was given a task and I had to figure out how to complete it and give it to the next person so they could complete the project. This meant that I was doing the task but also learning about it. Being professional creating and making deadlines is related to my career development which is such an important aspect of an internship.  

The final aspect that stuck with me was career development. For this aspect in the book about career development, I found that it was extremely helpful in reshaping how I felt about my internship. An internship is a stepping stone in my career. An Internship allows for networking and connecting yourself with other departments around the city or state, and even within a specialty. After completing my internship, I realized that a career in government was not for me--but that did not mean that the connections that I made along the way were not helpful to my career development. Reframing my internship into a career development aspect really helped me pull the most out of my internship. For example one of the things that I took as part of my internship was to create a portfolio from my journal (p. 35). Creating a portfolio shows my career development to potential future employers and more importantly, it shows to me how to translate my experiences into skills. 

Overall, this book was extremely helpful for taking the most out of my internship and translating my experiences into a professional outlet that create a positive view of my internship.