At the beginning of the internship:

"It was kind of difficult when I first started because no one really talked to the interns.  I finally learned that I had to suck it up and make the first move.  After that, the office became an entirely different place.  It became fun and laid back, while at the same time professional."

 "For the rest of the meeting I was feeling pretty funny.  I think that a lot of that had to do with the fact that I do not know if these people know that I am just an intern, what they think of that if they do know, of if I am pulling it off and they think of me as someone doing a job.  I guess I just do not know where I stand and that is a pretty uncomfortable way to be."

"I'm hoping to make a difference in people's lives but I have a feeling that they will be making more of an impact on mine.  Seeing as this is a career path that I would like to follow, I want to see how I handle the pressure and how I might change things if I were in this profession."

"Academically, I would like to observe if anything that I learned in school these past few years will apply to the working environment.  I have no problems learning concepts but I'm not convinced that anything I have learned will be useful in the future."

"In this internship course I'm learning a lot of valuable skills that I will use forever. What kind of class could really teach you how to communicate with people unlike yourself? At first I found it very difficult to communicate with the clients because I was unsure how to act. Now I feel very comfortable with most of the clients and I can tell that they feel comfortable with me. There's no way that you could learn that in a classroom with your peers."

"Internships are good because the people there expect you to learn as you go.  They did not expect me to walk in there knowing what I had to know.  I think this has helped my problem-solving skills and critical thinking skills."

These are  true of most internships:

"An important thing to remember in an internship is to ask questions. The most important matter to stay focused on though, is the sociological perspective while entrenched in this internship. Many of the actions that happen during a day are highly individual, and as a result it can be easy to forget that they did not appear out of a vacuum all by themselves. There are many contributing factors."

"In most of my other courses I have read a lot of books, taken tests, and written research papers--typical college stuff. Interestingly, I could skip a day of class very easily without calling the professor and explaining why I wasn't there, but this internship compels me to be there on the days scheduled and if something major comes up, I would not dream of not calling and letting them know why I wouldn't be there. I suppose this has much more of a job feel than class does."

"My greatest challenge this semester was overcoming my fears;  fears of not doing well,  fears of being uncomfortable, fears of not knowing how to act in a situation, and fears of working with a child not like me.  Really it just took me time and experience to overcome my fears.  I think with every day I got more comfortable and less nervous about how my actions were being perceived."

"I think that internships should be required for all students that graduate because the amount of knowledge gained about yourself and your ability to apply what you've learned is incredible.  I was continually challenged to look at situations in ways that were outside my comfort zone.  It is this challenge to overcome your fear of failure, to adjust to new situations as they arise, to take the information you were supposed to have learned and apply it to real life that makes an internship so valuable. They teach you theory in a classroom; an internship teaches you survival and gives a student the confidence and self-awareness they need once they graduate.  You can't study for an internship and success is measured differently depending on where you are and what goals you had set for yourself.  That is another way in which an internship is so different from classroom learning.  With an internship you learn what you set out to learn.  These goals may change throughout the internship but it is you and only you that insures the goals have been met.  You can't blame a teacher for not explaining things clearly or giving you pointless assignments.  If your assignments have been continuously pointless by the end of an internship it is because you didn't take care to meet your goals and restructure the learning process."
 

Looking back on the whole experience:

"In an internship, it's all observation and interpretation, whereas in a traditional course a lot of the learning is done through someone just relaying information.  And honestly, the majority of the learning in an internship is done all on your own, so there has to be a certain level of self-discipline there.  You can't just physically show up every day and expect things to happen to you.  You have to be an active participant in your learning process.  I know that all of this may sound cliche, but it is true."

"I did learn things here I could not have learned in class. This helped me to put my book knowledge to work in a non threatening setting. If I screwed up, I was not getting fired. I learned a lot about criminal law, made some definite decisions about what type of law I would like to go into if I go to law school, and I managed to overcome my personal shyness. Pretty good for only a semester."

"I'm glad I've had an opportunity to work with some of the other interns because I have learned some things from them as well.  I think I have the right attitude about a job setting that you can learn things from everyone, even the clients.  The things you learn at a job don't always pertain to the job either."

"My internship taught me all sorts of things about the way the world works. I've heard the theories in class; from Family and Institutions to Power and Privilege, I've heard all about the way bureaucracies work and how social systems interact. However, I really got a chance to apply those ideas in a practical setting in my internship. I've seen how it is that people become homeless, I've seen how bureaucracies become inert and ineffective, and I've met some really interesting people. I could not have learned this new perspective from classes alone. In class, the theories and stories are interesting, but I've always been something of a skeptic. I want proof of everything. Well, now I have it. No one needs to prove to me that social conditions, not laziness, cause homelessness; I've witnessed it. No one needs to explain how bureaucracies can get so stuck in their rules and regulations that they fail to function in their intended manner; I've seen that too! And no one needs to prove to me that while there may be some social laws that govern our behavior in most instances, there are exceptions to all theories and truly the best theory is the one that explains the most with the least."

"When I look back at who I was before I began my internships, I am almost unrecognizable.  Challenging myself to enter new environments and to test my abilities has given me a new self-confidence.  It has also given me a goal and direction in life.  Before this I knew I wanted to help people.  Now I know that I want to do this by changing policy.  . . My frustrations with the system have sparked a drive to make something new that works.  . . I have seen people from all walks of life and found myself handling situations that I'd have thought would break me.  There is a power within me that makes me realize that I can do anything if I just put my mind to it.  No theory course could ever have done that for me."

"This internship really helped me leave college with the feeling that I learned something... What is funny is that I never expected anything that I got out of this internship.  I completely underestimated what would happen to me during my time there to the point that I had no expectations.  I never thought I would be so morally and ethically challenged."

"I feel that my sociological imagination has developed as I was able to see the personal troubles on a firsthand basis.  I think that I had the larger part of the sociological imagination, the public issues, in tact from my sociology classes.  But the personal troubles that link these public issues together cannot be learned in a traditional classroom setting.  I got to see the personal problems such as poverty, drugs, abuse, and mental disorders that would lead a person to DSS.  And I got to see how these problems cannot be generalized, how they are different for every person.  But these personal problems are social issues that affect every individual in our society."

"I would like to continue to work in this area because this is what I have always wanted to do and I knew it but I didn't see it so clearly until I was actually doing it.  It was l ike a dream that had been stored away and was found."

"For me it has been hard when looking back to say what I learned in class (child welfare) and what I learned at work since both were going on at the same time.  In the mornings I would learn about how the system works to protect children and then in the afternoons I was part of it.  It really made my intern experience better.  The internship also let me learn things in a way that made them real."

"This internship made me see that I have actually gotten a lot out of college and that I am ready for the real business world.  I liked being able to work on my own without graded deadlines.  I liked helping people and being in a system with colleagues.  It made me very anxious to get done with school and find a job.  I notice a big change in my confidence and knowledge.  I actually felt smarter because I got to have hands-on experience with everything I have learned these past four years."

Specific Criminal Justice comments:

"During my initial interview, it was explained that I was in for a shock by trying to describe some of the situations that I would be involved in and by describing some of the clients that I would be in contact with.  This conversation was nothing close to the real thing.  Not that I was attacked or anything, but to see someone four foot six and 100 pounds soaking wet being charged with criminal sexual conduct or attempted murder with a deadly weapon is a swift reality check."

"At the end of my internship I had eliminated all of the courtroom drama notions that I had to begin with.  There is no dramatic unfolding of events during a trial.  It is very structured and you almost already know the answer that will be given.  The prosecution and the defense are not at odds with each other.  They work together to find a more appealing solution to the problem before them."

"At the end, I realized this:  we are surrounded with such a huge problem like child sexual abuse and people not only do not know about it, but also worry about problems that are much less important than this.  I see people worry about the brand of their shoes, and when I tried to talk to them and tell them a little about this huge, huge problem of child sexual abuse they answer me back "are you again in your sociological mood? Do not talk to us then."

"When I first began my internship with the Public Defender's office, I had my doubts.  I thought these lawyers had no conscience as to whom they were defending.  In talking with one of the attorneys, I got an answer to a question which I have always thought bothered me about the profession of defense attorneys:  how can you possibly defend someone who is guilty?  The lawyer responded that he was merely trying to get these guys off on a fair deal.  There was no reason to put the majority of his clients behind bars for extended amounts of time when the majority of their crimes were drug related.  These criminals are in trouble.. . they are often illiterate and have mental problems.  I began to see that the public defenders were fighting for justice.  Justice does not always equal lots of jail time.  Justice equals punishment equivalent to the crime committed."

"My greatest challenge was negating the stereotypes I have had about criminals or the accused.   I have greatly changed my views on this.  I even have changed my opinion of the death penalty just because of this internship--which I would not have done without having had this internship."