Wahlert seniors gain experience throughout community

Caroline White, ’17, works on tallying up the Emergency Room logs during her UnityPoint Health Internship.

Internships are a great way for people, especially students, to get a feel for a variety of potential career paths. Additionally, they allow the interns to put themselves in the shoes of the person that they are interning with to observe and shadow his or her job responsibilities.

This year, there has been an increase in internship opportunities for the seniors at Wahlert. If students have an opening in their schedules, they are encouraged to fill it with an internship in a field relating to  the area of study they hope to pursue.

Audrey Noonan, ‘17, for example, is an intern at Langworthy Dental in Dubuque because a future career in dental hygiene interests her.

“I chose to do an internship at Langworthy Dental because I wanted to gain experience in the field before deciding on the major,” said Noonan. What better way to learn, than by following a current hygienist around!

“My internship is preparing me for my life outside of high school because it gives me an idea of what my life will be like after I start my career, “ continued Noonan.

Some students have space in their schedule to participate in more than one internship. Caroline White, ‘17, for example, is doing an internship with Ms. Koetz in the Campus Ministry Department at Wahlert and at UnityPoint Health.

“With Ms. Koetz, I mainly help with mass planning, for example making the power points. At UnityPoint, I work in the office, escort patients, and do other odds and end jobs,” explained White. By having several internships, Caroline is able to gain experience in two different fields of study.

“Internships help people prepare for adulthood because they are similar to jobs in that you need to follow instructions, be professional, and learn how to work with different types of people,” concluded White.

All in all, internships allow students to get a taste of the real world before they begin their career. So, if you are interested in participating in an internship next year, or you have questions about your schedule in general, be sure to stop by guidance!