Link is a three week internship that Juniors take place in which challenges the student to take their interests and explore what job opportunities they may have and then see what work/career they may want to go into and how to attain these goals. Throughout the internship the students are able to really immerse themselves in their chosen working environment which may be something that they are strongly passionate about, with the help of a mentor they are able to discover more about who they are and what path they want to take. During LINK, students have no regular classes as they spend 30-40 hours a week with mentors in the workplace, learning how to apply their skills outside the classroom
About Business For my internship I worked at Rehoboth Spring Junior Primary School in Christon Bank, Zimbabwe as a ICT, English and art teacher. Rehoboth Primary School teaches students from grade level EDCa (Preschool) to Grade Seven. This is close to a elementary school combined with a preschool in the United States. It is a private school which offers boarding for parents who cant drive their kids to school everyday if they live far away.
Anticipation and Preparation
In preparation for my internship I did a lot of research about companies near me that offered work that was related to what I am interested into which was a very broad spectrum. I contacted four organizations which were all very different from one another but all interested me. I received acceptance emails from three of the companies and decided to go to the one which I felt would be the most challenging but would offer the most freedom to explore different career paths which was a teacher. Being in Zimbabwe the schools are not always able to financially support themselves which can result in a lack of staff. The school I helped at did not have many teachers to cover alfor many positions including art, computers, math and english. This was a great opportunity because I could explore different subjects and I was able to do a lot more without a qualification which wouldn’t be able to do here in the US. I wanted to be able to contribute to the community I had on my exchange and teaching was a great way to do that. I felt like I was able to bring a new perspective to the school and share with the student along with the staff a different approach to teaching.
Link Project
For my project I wanted to help create something for the school that can positively impact the school in the present and in the future. I decided to create a website for the school so that they could get students from other cities into their boarding facilities to increase their student count and bring awareness to their schools mission. I created a website for their school to help promote their offerings and spread the word of the mission they are based on. I spent an hour everyday finalising this and making sure to teach the other teachers how to work it so they can later update it as the school changes and grows.
Reflection: Overall, my two months as a teach at the primary school was an incredible eye opening experience that taught me so much about myself and others. After doing my internship where I learned a lot about myself and my passions more so than my future academic and career plans it opened my eyes to many opportunities that I can help less fortunate communities. It inspired me to pursue similar programs like peace corps later down the road.I did realise that teaching is not the career I want to take but would love to do as volunteer work. I hope to do more internships next semester to explore different fields and jobs along with doing volunteer programs. Next summer I plan to sign up as a volunteer at planned parenthood and dive deeper in the path of medical/women’s health. As of now college is something that is very near and I am still not sure what I want to do but the best way for me to find my passion and desired career is to experience the work first hand.