Immersion in internships

By Breanna Lu, Matt Wang, and Manasa Sriraj Feb. 3, 2021

Ivan Zhu Art

Seeking real-world experience within their career interests, many high school students have begun pursuing internships—positions catered specifically to provide people with hands-on involvement in the workplace. These jobs are extremely diverse, with opportunities ranging from interacting with engineers at Google to training with a United States Secret Service agent.

Since companies need a wide range of employees, they hire a multitude of interns for different teams. Corporations are also becoming more open to accepting high school students as interns. According to the National Broadcasting Company, a 2014 survey by Millennial Branding and Internships.com showed that 77 percent of high schoolers were interested in gaining work experience. In response, 50 percent of the employers surveyed offered high school internships. Students can browse the internet to find these opportunities with recruitment tools like Tallo and Indeed.

50 percent of the employers surveyed offered high school internships. Students can browse the internet to find these opportunities with recruitment tools like Tallo and Indeed.

Senior Toby Worledge did just that when he landed an internship with Quantum Thought, an artificial intelligence and quantum computing company. Collaborating with a team, he helped to determine which computer systems were best fit for certain tasks, such as cybersecurity or COVID-19 contact tracing.

“I was not very familiar with the company’s programs or systems, so working there tested my ability to figure problems out on my own, which will be very useful in the future,” Worledge said.

Though many internships, like Worledge’s, are offered by corporations, students can also intern with government officials to gain real-world experience in politics. Hoping to enter the political field in the future, Junior Varun Singhvi took on a job with District 10 Councilmember Matt Mahan. Singhvi created visual displays to help keep track of key dates and deadlines on the San Jose policy calendar.

“I have gained a lot of knowledge in how politicians connect with their constituents, what goes into crafting policies and the different roles within our government,” Singhvi said.

Through constructing a resumé, attending an interview and collaborating with a team, internships give students valuable experience and insight into potential career paths. However, they are not the only way students can take to prepare for the real world. The school offers the Advanced Placement (AP) Capstone program, which is split up between two one-year classes: Seminar and Research. Seminar students present analysis of existing research through papers and presentations; Research students conduct novel research on a topic of their choice. For instance, Senior Madison Phan, a current AP Research student, is exploring the effects of social media on young adults’ political leanings.

Through constructing a resumé, attending an interview and collaborating with a team, internships give students valuable experience and insight into potential career paths.

“Since I have always loved learning about politics, I looked into issues within the subject. I also want to know more about the reasoning behind people’s behaviors on social media, so I combined my two interests to develop my research project,” Phan said.

Those in AP Research are expected to contact and regularly work with expert advisors, often college professors, who help guide students’ studies.

“Capstone has not only taught me how to communicate with professionals, but also how to organize my ideas and map out large projects,” Phan said.

The skills gained at internships or the Capstone program may augment one’s resumé or college application, but the experience will help to prepare students for their futures outside of the school’s halls.

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About the Contributors

Breanna Lu

Staff Writer

Breanna Lu is a freshman and a new staff writer. She enjoys binge watching sci-fi movies and her favorite book genre is murder mysteries/crime fiction. In her free time, you will most likely find her asleep or chatting with her friends.

Manasa Sriraj

Staff Writer

Manasa Sriraj is a freshman at Leland High School and a staff writer. She is a STEM, puzzle, and geography freak and loves torturing her friends by spamming and "Rickrolling" on group chats. Her hobbies include listening to music, playing basketball and the guitar, experimenting with snack recipes (which usually result in messes), and building Rube Goldberg machines and gadgets out of Legos and other regular household objects.

Matt Wang

Sports Editor

Matt Wang a senior at Leland High School and the Sports Editor for the Charger Account. He enjoys photography, listening to music and playing League of Legends.