OP-ED
On May 21, seniors finished classes and left for their end-of-year internships, a tradition which has served in the past as a valuable tool for seniors to start thinking about their life after high school.
Internships are one of the most important opportunities for students because they require seniors to focus on real world jobs and a sense of where they want to go in life.
For the past 13 years of their lives, seniors have been taught math, science, English, social studies, and various other topics which they have been told will help them later in their lives.
Internships allow students to get a taste of the real world and apply all the skills they have built up. These internships can be an introduction to the work field for many students who haven’t yet had a job or any work experience.
It’s necessary to have these experiences because seniors are at the age where they need to start choosing a career path and starting to experiment early is important because it will save time and money in the future.
Seniors can begin to limit their options of what they want in a career by taking this opportunity and learning what kind of job would be a good fit for them.
Unfortunately, some students don’t take full advantage of this opportunity and instead just start working at their summer job early. These summer jobs are typically ones that are taken just to gain money and usually aren’t seen as career paths. They are not going to help the seniors learn about what career they want for themselves or expose them to new jobs that they may like.
The internship program was designed for students to get experience in a job they may want to pursue later in their life, and students that work at a temporary job used to get some cash are wasting this amazing opportunity.
