My Bay State Internship: The Kennedy Crusader
For Bay State College students, internships are more than coffee runs and endless copies. Bay State students engage in opportunities that apply to their education, allow them to network and provide them with a valuable understanding of the business and industry setting. My Bay State Internship series offers a glance at what students are achieving off campus by putting classroom theories into practice.
#MyBayStateInternship
Name: Jeffrey Luck
Major: Criminal Justice
Internship: Edward M. Kennedy Institute
How did you land your internship?
When it came time for me to do an internship, Dr. Morrissette suggested the Kennedy Institute because he thought I would be a good fit. After submitting a resume and cover letter, I was asked to come in for an interview. To my surprise, a former classmate of mine was interning there and gave me a tour of the place prior to the actual interview. After a painless interview, I landed the position.
What were your duties as an intern? What was a typical day like?
My primary role was to bring visitors through orientation and get them in the mindset of a senator. Along with this, I encouraged them to ask questions and provided tours as requested. On a few occasions, we hosted special guests for talks including Senator Bernie Sanders.
What important skills did you gain?
I gained confidence in my presenting, management and adaptive skills. When giving tours, we would get groups of visitors ranging from ages 9 to 80 and I would have to make sure everyone enjoyed themselves while learning something. Because of this, I needed to find different ways of presenting the information in an exciting and clear way.
What did your internship teach you about the real world that you might not have learned in school?
My internship taught me that not everything is as "cookie cutter" as people make it out to be. Every group and every person needed to be treated with individual attention and required their own spin on the dialogue I was telling.
What was your biggest accomplishment as an intern?
While interning, my supervisors praised me for my professionalism and work ethic. For my project, I made a game that I could see them adding to the institute one day, and all who saw it thought it was very well done. My greatest accomplishment was during my review where my boss told me that if he had the power I would have gotten 6/5 on all categories.
What was your favorite moment from your internship?
My favorite moment from my internship was when Senator Sanders came to the institute. I got to see him speak in our re-creation of the Senate chambers and after, I bumped into him at one of our exhibits.
What advice would you give to someone interning with this company or a similar one?
Remain calm. Everyone there is just as nervous as you are and all those who have been there longer are more than willing to help you out. Breathe, take it slow, and relax.