Externships

One of the many things I love about Carleton is our six week winter break that comes right after fall term. As a first year, I loved having time to recuperate after a hectic first term at college and spend time with my family and friends back home—and since the term had already ended, I didn’t have any homework to worry about, either! As a sophomore, I was slightly less eager to spend six consecutive weeks at home again, so I took that opportunity to travel to England for the first time to visit family for three weeks. This broke up my vacation pretty nicely, but as I was starting to think about what I wanted to do for my junior year winter break, I knew that I wanted something a little different. 

Enter, externships!

What are externships? An excellent question to ask, imaginary reader! Externships is the term we use to describe internships that occur over winter break. They are hosted by Carleton alumni, and they are strictly for Carleton students, so there is no fear of competition with students from other academic institutions. At the end of every August, our lovely Career Center will release the available externship opportunities for that year—there is usually some variety from year to year—and students can then apply to up to a total of four externships. They are available in a wide variety of fields and they can take you all around the world; I know a student who worked in a theater department in Alaska one year, and another who worked at a finance office in NYC, where the latter student actually ended up working after he graduated. 

My externship!

This past December, I took part in an externship at a boarding school in Pomfret, Connecticut. I shadowed the faculty in the English department, which I found to be an invaluable experience. One of the great things about a liberal arts education is that you are not limited to a career in the field that you have studied in. I’m not too sure what my ideal position is just yet, but teaching is something that I am definitely interested in as a potential career. I was able to teach several classes, work on lesson plans, and ask the teachers any and all questions about teaching that I had. I was also housed by a Carleton alum who works at the school in the physics department, which I was very grateful for, and forming that connection with a fellow Carl was another important resource to me during that time. 

Even though it was only three weeks, it was an opportunity that I would not have been able to take part in if not for that six week winter break, and it helped me realize that teaching high school level English is something that I might like to pursue after I graduate next June! The Career Center is one of many great resources available to students on campus, and they helped me refine my cover letter before submitting my application. Not every Carleton student will do one by the time they graduate, but a decent amount of students will, and why not? In short, externships are pretty cool! 

If Holly (she/her/hers) was a place on campus, she would be the bench in the upper arb that overlooks Bell Field. During the school year, Holly “slays” on the dance floor as the director of the Synchrony II dance troupe, is a member of Project Friendship, a theater stage manager, and works in the Alumni Relations Office! A fun fact about her is that she has triple citizenship with the US, UK, and Ireland.