Hometown: Wichita, Kansas 

Majors: B.A. Biology, minor Philosophy 

Internship title and organization: Atlantis Project Fellowship, Hospital Shadowing in Spain 

Students are increasingly adding an internship to their College experience to boost their career prospects after graduation. According to a recent article in the New York Times, "internships have gone from nice-to-have-on-a-résumé to absolutely critical," because employers now hire about 50 percent of their interns after graduation. Internships can be a direct route to a job at a company or organization. They can also let you try out a career, build a network, establish mentors outside of College, earn college credit, acquire new skills, and gain vital experience in a professional environment.

Hometown: Tribune, Kansas

Majors: Finance and Economics

Internship title and organization: Research intern at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP)   

Hometown: Westwood, KS 

Majors: Global & international studies and French, minor in economics 

Internship title and organization: Events Intern at the International Relations Council 

Hometown: Anchorage, Alaska 

Majors: English major with German and journalism minors 

Why did you choose your majors/minors? I’ve always really enjoyed English and German, and I figured I would do the best studying what I have interests in. I decided to minor in journalism as well, because it is a good way to learn to apply what I’m learning in English. The more I learn about it, the more I like it. 

Internship title and organization:  I was an intern at a newspaper called the Ostholsteiner Anzeiger in Eutin, Germany. Eutin is a small town in Schleswig-Holstein. It is the sister city of Lawrence.

Combining classes in photography, sign language, biology & anthropology, junior McKenzie Cory takes full advantage of all the variety the College and KU has to offer. Oh, and she's interning at Topeka Zoo too, and crafting in her spare time. Busy, busy. In March 2017, we handed McKenzie the keys to our Instagram account to show us what it's like to take "a crazy variety of classes" in one week, and because we wanted to see all the cute animals at the zoo!

Here's KU from McKenzie's point of view:

A career in the US army sparked Rebecca Rumptz's passion for international diplomacy. Originally from a small town in Michigan, she joined the Army straight out of high school and spent the next seven years as a soldier working in intelligence analysis.  Assignments in Germany, Iraq and Afghanistan, and a period in Washington D.C. fueled her passions further. A desire to learn more led her to KU.

Hometown: Beloit, Kansas

Majors: Political Science & Economics

Internship title and company: Office of Postsecondary Education Intern, United States Department of Education

As an intern, Melissa Fontana wasn’t making coffee; she was making a difference. Using the interpersonal and communication skills she learned in her classes, Melissa developed meaningful relationships with students supported by the HALO Foundation. 

Hometown: Highland Park, IL 

Major and Minor: Communication studies major, business minor 

Internship title and company: Youth development intern at The HALO Foundation (Helping Art Liberate Orphans), a non-profit based in Kansas City that supports young people in orphanages and learning centers worldwide.

Garrett Farlow spent his summer halfway around the world in Kazakhstan working to help journalists break away from government censorship and playing sports with the National Special Olympics team. Casual. We asked Garrett to tell us all about this incredible experience and how he overcame the intimidation factor of interning overseas. 

Hometown: Tecumseh, KS 

Majors: Journalism, Slavic Language & Literature and Political Science 

Basically spending her summer as Ross Geller, Brittney Oleniacz had the opportunity to intern with the American Museum of Natural History. She got to visit ALL of the exhibits, hold a moon rock and chill with Neil Degrasse Tyson. Excuse us while we geek out a bit. We asked Brittney to tell us all about her intern days. 

Hometown: Phillipsburg, NJ 

Major: Graduate student in Museum Studies 

Internship title and company: Microfossil Intern, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City 

Hometown: I’ve moved too many times to have one!

Majors: History, Chinese language & literature;

Minor: Indigenous studies

Internship title and organization: Intern for the Program in Latino History & Culture at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (NMAH)