By Audrey Steen, Dual Degree English/Sec. Education, McAnulty Academic Internship
We are now finally approaching the end of the semester, and it does not feel real. I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by, and it astonishes me how much I have learned in such a short period, or at least what feels like it. Coming into the internship, I felt illiterate in anything concerning marketing, which is ironic because I signed up for the opportunity knowing I would be thrown into an environment I would be unfamiliar with. However, I came in knowing I would struggle at first and be open to the process of learning what it means to apply my academic knowledge to a vocational setting.
With all the challenges and fumbling through the new environment, I finally was able to use courage and try things with the possibility of failing. This was important in my learning experience to combat these anxieties about failure in unscaffolded assignments. Being given full creative responsibility, both academically and vocationally, is something we do not experience as we grow up. It is a very progressive pedagogy to have students dictate their learning objectives with minimal guidance, but this has caused me to learn so much more in a short time. If the information were to be taught to me and then regenerated into a different form, the goal of the internship would never be achieved; me feeling more confident in my work and being open to new practices has made me a better fit as a future educator.
I am very grateful for this experience and feel lucky to be supervised through the beginnings of job search practices. I would have felt very lost transitioning into the next part of my life without the skills taught to me through this internship. I hope the internship program grows and that more students can have this opportunity and see more of these pedagogical practices incorporated into the curriculum to benefit our future practices.
Building Bridges 