How COVID-19 Has Changed Internships for Three Students

An internship³ is a way for many students to explore different careers and gain valuable skills during their education.

It is a work position for a short period of time and could be paid or unpaid⁴. More importantly, students who had work internships received more job offers after graduation than those without.

The National Association⁵ of Colleges and Employers⁶ reported that graduating students with internships in the Class of 2019 received 1.17 job offers as compared to 0.98 for those without the experience.

During the COVID-19 health crisis⁷, almost all internships have had to adjust to the new environment. Some workplaces have simply cancelled their internships. Others moved them online for work and learning⁸.

Washington DC internships moved online

The Ohio State University (OSU) is the largest public university in Ohio with nearly 68,000 students. Around 75 percent of students will do an internship while they are in school. OSU offers a competitive⁹ internship program for students studying government policy.

The internship program is called the Washington Academic Internship Program (WAIP). The program helps its students to study and work in Washington, DC. Like many others, the program had to move to a virtual¹⁰ learning environment this year. This fall, only 11 students are attending the program.

Alyssa Fuller, Nicholas Fulton, and Claire Palmer are three students attending the WAIP program this fall. Fulton joins the program from Kent and Fuller checks in from another Ohio city, Columbus. And Palmer is nearly 4,000 kilometers across the country in Sacramento, California.

Alyssa Fuller had to adjust to the feeling of being alone and disconnected during the internship. She told VOA, "this was a bit of a change, working alone in my one-bedroom apartment with no one around me. I think I really did have to get used to the feeling of my team being there but not really there."

One of the biggest ways that COVID-19 has changed our daily lives is the way we communicate.

Nicholas Fulton told VOA that he had to adjust to communicating through e-mail and phone calls every day. He said it is difficult to get his personality across to his supervisors¹¹ and build relationships. He also said it is important to communicate in an internship so you receive work.

Since many internships are unpaid, students will often take a paying job during their internship. Interns² find it important to balance their time. Claire Palmer said she finds balancing her time to be a skill she is learning while being an intern¹.

Palmer also offered some advice for future interns. She said, "it's important to be able to tell like when stuff¹² needs to be good and when stuff needs to just get done, because those are two very different types of tasks."

Workplaces have found that they need to change the work they give their interns. Usually, many interns are given simple jobs requiring no special skill. Since interns are working from home, they cannot answer the phones, do the usual paperwork or simple jobs.

Fulton told VOA "you're encouraged to work on other projects. So that's a really good thing that you'll have your hands in a wider range of things." He continued by saying that interns are learning new skills that can help them in the future. For example, students are getting more computer skills that can be useful in professional work.

Alyssa praised the WAIP program for attempting to give students the "DC experience." The program has organized events, connected students with people, and given resources they may need, although, virtually¹³.

Words in This Story

adjust – v. to change in order to work or do better in a new situation

virtual – adj. existing or occurring on computers or on the Internet

apartment – n. a usually rented room or set of rooms that is part of a building and is used as a place to live

personality – n. the set of emotional¹⁴ qualities or ways of behaving, that makes a person different from other people

stuff – n. materials, supplies, or equipment

task – n. a piece of work that has been given to someone: a job for someone to do

special – adj. different from what is normal or usual

encourage – v. to make (someone) more determined¹⁵, hopeful, or confident

range – n. a group or collection of different things or people that are usually similar in some way

1 intern   

v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生

参考例句：

• I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
• The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

2 interns   

n.住院实习医生( intern的名词复数 )v.拘留，关押( intern的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Our interns also greet our guests when they arrive in our studios. 我们的实习生也会在嘉宾抵达演播室的时候向他们致以问候。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• The interns work alongside experienced civil engineers and receive training in the different work sectors. 实习生陪同有经验的国内工程师工作，接受不同工作部门的相关培训。 来自超越目标英语 第4册

3 internship   

n.实习医师，实习医师期

参考例句：

• an internship at a television station 在电视台的实习期
• a summer internship with a small stipend 薪水微薄的暑期实习

4 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

5 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。

6 employers   

雇主( employer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
• The onus is on employers to follow health and safety laws. 雇主有义务遵行健康安全法。

7 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

8 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

9 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

10 virtual   

adj.实质上的，事实上的，实际上的

参考例句：

• This reply is a virtual acceptance of our offer.这一回答实质上是接受了我们的建议。
• At that time the East India Company was the virtual ruler of Bengal.那时东印度公司是孟加拉的实际统治者。

11 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

12 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

13 virtually   

adv.实际上，事实上

参考例句：

• The job was virtually completed by the end of the week.到周末时这项工作差不多完成了。
• He was virtually a prisoner.他实际上是个囚犯。

14 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

15 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。