Many students at Sonoma State University are required to complete a certain number of hours as an intern in order to graduate. It may look good on a resume, but on top of school, jobs, social life, and maintaining a good mental state, are internships worth sacrificing students’ sanity?
Being a full time student alone is a huge time commitment, which makes adding an internship to the mix all the more troublesome. Placing this expectation on students is harmful because it creates burnout. Many students also already have paid jobs that help them pay for schooling, so asking them to complete an unpaid internship on top of everything else is ridiculous and unnecessary.
While not all internships are unpaid, finding a paid position is like finding a needle in a haystack. On top of that, these positions are usually more demanding and require more experience in the field which, as college students, most people don’t have.
Fourth year student Keegan Vincent said, “I have had a hard time maintaining a good GPA in order to graduate while also working at my internship. Although I love interning for a PR company, I have a lot on my plate and wish my major made internships optional or possibly not require so many hours.”
Expecting students to intern in exchange for course units is excessive, and it takes the fun out of choosing an internship. Working in someone’s field of interest brings along great experience, however students should be able to choose if and when they want to participate in an internship. It would look great on a resume no matter what, and students would have more freedom and less frustration because they are not forced to work.
Adriana Munoz, a third year student, said, “I am struggling to find paid internships. They are extremely hard to come by and if I am going to invest my time into a company, compensation would help a lot. I pay for my own schooling and housing, so these are crucial hours I could be working for pay, but unfortunately to graduate this is a requirement.”
Paid internships should not be so difficult to come by. Students are investing time that they could put elsewhere to pursue companies in their field of interest, however they are often stuck doing grunt work. Being paid would encourage students to intern as well as get all of their internship hours in. College is way too expensive and if students are interning for no pay, they’re wasting time they could use to work a job for actual money.
Students typically do their internship their last semester, and although it’s their fault for waiting until the last minute, internships usually require some form of experience in the field, which most students don’t until later in their college career.
Communications student Jack Brutus said, “I want to intern for a company I am passionate about and believe could give me good networking opportunities. I chose COMS because it is so relevant to today’s generation, but I want to use it for good, not just filing papers and making phone calls.”
It is always appealing to pick the first internship that comes along, rather than something interesting and relevant to one’s career. This leads to dreading the internship and wasting their time on work they aren’t passionate about. If the requirements were lifted, students could freely pick an internship in their interest that they are passionate about.
Although some students enjoy having to do an internship because they are learning skills and communication tactics for future jobs, finding balance between work, school, and a social life is exhausting. Some students love their internships, nonetheless they are still overworked and often for no compensation. College students are held to high standards which teaches them to be prepared for life after school, but life after school students will be getting paid for all the time and effort they put into their future jobs.
There are such high expectations placed on college students. Attending college and finishing is a huge accomplishment in it of itself, but adding more stress to college students is unfair. They are adults and can make their own decisions , and choosing to intern to further their skills should be a personal decision, not a forced one.
