Internships or Hinderance?
Internships are, for the most part, a natural part of a career driven person’s life. Although they do not come easily, quickly, or at the most convenient moment all of the time, students are bred to understand that having an internship is a stop on the road they must follow if they want to be successful. However, this thought process is becoming increasingly contradictory, with the amount of flaws that exist in many student internships today. In 2018, students have more responsibilities than just being “students.” They have an increasing amount of work, bills to pay, responsibilities to tend to at home, and various other things that can inhibit their time and/or their sanity.
Internships, though, are seen as something that must be wedged into a person’s busy schedule, because without one, the chances of finding a job are slim. Erin Byers, for example, is a student at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. In between classes on Monday and Wednesday, she goes to her internship on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday in New York City. She explained that she is unable to do anything else on the days when she works at her internship, because when she is not working, she is commuting to and from work which takes up the rest of her day. “My schedule is very tight,” she said. Byers is one of the many students at Rutgers University who are simply squeezing in more responsibilities in every crevice of free time they have.
Although internships are supposed to help young people prepare themselves for their future career and have a positive impact on their lives, some of these job-before-the-jobs are actually hindering individuals’ lives. Many internships in fact, demand so much time and effort of people, without even paying them for their services. Victoria Dorilio was a medical assistant student whose days were devoted to learning her craft between class and her internship at Hackensack Meridian Health. Unfortunately, all of this learning left her little time for her other obligations as well as almost no time for making money to cover her personal bills and expenses. When asked about balancing her internship with the rest of her life, Dorilio said that “focusing on my internship was difficult only because I do have bills and responsibilities. And since I did not get paid for the internship, which was forty hours a week, I would still have to go to my two other jobs after that which left me little to no time to study for my certification test and finish things at home.” Obviously, internships are an extremely time-consuming experience, and although it looks particularly good on resumes and to big important bosses, it is a huge strain on many people’s lives.
Students working toward a career already have to balance so much in their lives, and adding internships to the laundry list of tasks is enough to put some people over the edge, especially when the internship takes more than it gives. It brings us students, mentors, and onlookers to the question of are these internships actually helping us? Or just hindering our performances in other areas of life?
