As we look toward another fall quarter, many of Northwestern University’s MS in Higher Education Administration and Policy (MSHE) program incoming students anxiously await the start of their internships, classes, and moving to the Chicago-land area. Some of our students, however, started the program this summer and are already hard at work in their internships. For our full-time students, we guarantee internship placement to fulfill the graduation requirement.  Internships span anywhere from 1 to 5+ quarters and provide crucial real-world experience needed for students’ job searches and career exploration.  In this MSHEadline, we profile three students as they engaged with their new internships this summer.

            Katie Welch (MS18), a Chicago native, began her internship in the College Programming Office at the University of Chicago this summer. In addition to new student orientation, the main programs within her purview are the Chicago Urban Experience (CUE) Pre-Orientation program and the “Send-Off Parties” that take place throughout the summer across the U.S. and internationally. Katie’s responsibilities include contacting vendors to book activities and catering, sending out communications to students and parents regarding the Send-Off Parties, tracking participant responses, and packing and shipping boxes to event locations with promotional materials and other goodies. When asked what she has learned so far from her internship, Katie said:

I’ve definitely learned a lot about what goes into planning a large-scale pre-orientation and orientation from beginning to end . . . My UChicago internship has also allowed me to meet and speak with administrators from other areas of the university, so I’ve been able to get a broad look at the working of a large university and how different positions and departments fit together.

Katie went on to discuss how her summer internship experience prepared her for the fall quarter. “I also feel like this internship will allow me to more easily apply what I learn in the fall to real world experiences. It has confirmed my interest in first year programs.” Katie will continue in a new internship in Northwestern’s One Book One Northwestern office for 2017-18.

            Stacey Huynh (MS18), a Northwestern undergraduate alumna, is interning with Northwestern’s Office of Undergraduate Admission. In her position, Stacey assists prospective undergraduate students and visitors, presents general undergraduate admission information sessions, reads applications, and executes admissions programming. One of Stacey’s favorite parts of her internship is that she gets to supervise junior and senior counselors alongside other fellow graduate counselors, Skyler Adams (MS18), and Jenna Suckernek (MS18). Although Stacey worked in the Office of Undergraduate Admission as an undergraduate, she says she has already learned so much more about the admissions process. Stacey also feels ready to enter the fall quarter. “This internship has helped me know what to expect for the fall quarter in terms of balancing work, school, [and] commuting life since fall quarter will be my second quarter in the program,” she shared. Skyler, who works alongside Stacey in the Undergraduate Admission Office, as well as in the MSHE Office, echoed Stacey, saying, “I’m only through one quarter and I already feel like I’ve grown so much. My internships have been so great, and I can’t wait for the fall quarter to begin.”

            Megan Marshall’s (MS18) internship is in the realm of student affairs. An alumna of Syracuse University, Megan began her internship this summer in Northwestern’s New Student and Family Programs (NSFP). Megan fulfills various roles within the office, but most notably she works with many of the Parent and Family initiatives during Wildcat Welcome, which is Northwestern’s eight-day orientation event for incoming freshmen.  Megan joined the office during one of the busiest seasons in NSFP, as the university-wide Wildcat Welcome is right around the corner. Because of this timing, Megan is learning as she goes and is fully immersed in the Wildcat Welcome planning. She said she has “gained valuable knowledge every day from [her] internship so far.” Moving into the fall quarter, Megan has a unique perspective that stems from internship experience. She shared:     

One thing I love about this internship is that I get to learn about the new student experience in ways that I can apply to my own experiences as a new student at Northwestern. There are so many resources and opportunities on this campus, and I can’t wait to apply what I learn from this internship into my own life as a graduate student in SESP.