Internships provide vital experience

Leaving home, entering adulthood and becoming independent are a few of the transitions students experience when entering college. When they prepare to graduate and enter the workforce, their thoughts often turn to gaining experience and establishing a professional network in their field of endeavor.

Deena Kennell, director of Internships and Career Services, said an internship is a proving ground.

"It's a time for the employer and prospective employee to try each other for size. Employers are looking for hard skills such as problem-solving and soft skills such as the ability to build productive workplace relationships," Kennell said.

Two young professionals, one in Chadron and one in Casper, have made the transition from college to work in their desired fields and credit the experience they gained to Chadron State College internships combined with coursework.

Ryan Hieb, originally from Newcastle, Wyoming, is a special agent with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and Kristina Harter is the director of Northwest Nebraska Tourism.

Hieb had already been hired as a Police Officer with the Casper Police Department and was assigned to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation as a task force officer following his graduation from CSC with his bachelor’s degree. Hieb enrolled in an internship as part of his current studies with the Master of Science in Organizational Management (MSOM) degree program.

Today, he is a special agent and credits the graduate-level internship, in part, with his advancement.

“The internship was no doubt a pivotal part of this, as it allowed me to utilize and continue to develop management and leadership skills learned throughout the degree program. The internship provided me the opportunity to work alongside administrators from two major law enforcement organizations within Wyoming to implement changes which were a benefit to both organizations,” Hieb said.

Some specific administrative tasks he was able to undertake included justifying a position, purchasing equipment, and writing policy for a new position. The chance to work closely with both the Director of DCI and the Chief of the Casper Police Department generated a number of valuable insights for Hieb.

He advises other students considering an internship to put a great deal of thought into the internship.

“Place high importance on communicating with the leaders and administrators within the internship organization. Throughout my internship experience, the discussions I had with existing leaders provided me with excellent insights, and gave me a variety of new perspectives to address throughout my course work,” Hieb said.

Harter, orginally frpom Colorado Springs, Colorado, also offered advice for CSC students contemplating an undergraduate internship, specifically, that they should overcome their fears of the real world.

“It is not going to be as difficult as they might imagine. Give yourself time to develop and learn. You will make mistakes. Then you’ll fix it. Then you’ll make more mistakes, but they will be farther and fewer between. As long as you applied yourself and what you learned throughout your education, you will have smooth sailing,” she said.

She overcame some serious fears when she received an assignment from her internship supervisor at USA Volleyball, a pipeline for Olympic hopefuls in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She was tasked with attending the 2013 High Performance Championships in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and write and publish two stories every day for 12 days.

“It seemed overwhelming, but the world was mine. That was a grueling and rewarding trip but I can say without a doubt that I can start a conversation with anyone, anywhere, anytime,” Harter said.

While working on her assignments, she recalled many principles learned in CSC journalism and communications classes.

“I could hear Mr. Kennedy in my head telling me there’s a red flag in my press release. Much of my communication was done via email, but I did also conduct interviews, which is a skill I learned at CSC. Then, of course, there was a lot of public relations work, website development and graphic designing, which was all relevant to my field of study,” Harter said.

Back in the Colorado Springs office, the challenges were not over, and fortunately one was self-imposed.

Harter and one of her fellow interns decided to write about the two most decorated athletes in the world, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings.

The first story titled “The Golden Girls” was a compilation of Q&A’s about this duo from well-respected athletes and coaches in the volleyball world, according to Harter. The second article was a reflection of the stars’ Olympic journey together.

“It was a dream come true to actually interview Misty May and Kerri Walsh, who were my childhood idols growing up, and a major reason why I pursued my college volleyball career,” Harter said. “This was a big task for two interns. We could have settled for a small story or just another press release, but instead we dreamed big and fulfilled it.”

Harter’s dreams got even bigger after earning her bachelor’s degree. She went on to earn her MSOM degree from CSC including six more credit hours of internship and was then hired by Northwest Nebraska Tourism in August 2015.