Emily Goldberg ’12
Web News Editor

When Angela Gibson ’10 entered her Spanish class on May 17, she was one of four students present. The previous Friday, there were approximately 20 other students in the class.

This excessive number of absences was not due to students skipping class, a field trip, or even another swine flu spread. Gibson’s class was missing students due to a different type of epidemic: senior internships.

“I didn’t want to do an internship because I already have a job,” said Gibson. “I thought to go from one job to another would be overload, and I wouldn’t be getting paid, so I’d rather just stay in school.”

Gibson is one of 122 seniors who chose to not participate in the senior internship program. Being one of 122 seniors at school, in a normal class of 407 has proven to be quite lonely at times.

Gibson explained that virtually all of her friends are participating in the internship program and that she is the only girl from her group of friends left at school.

Scott Grundei ’10 is not participating in the program, either.

“I’m not going to lie, daily life right now is sort of weird. Almost all of my senior friends are on the internship[s],” said Grundei.

Joyce Eldh, coordinator for the internship program, believes there are a few main reasons why seniors chose to not participate in the program.

Eldh explained that seniors might have wanted to take it easy after APs and may have wanted to stay in school to see their friends everyday. Also, they might have wanted to bring up their grades or did not find an internship that interested them.

Some students, however, regret that they did not apply for an internship. “I was just lazy. I thought school would be easier at the end,” said Austin Hood ’10. “Now I wish I did an internship.”

Andrew Glenn ’10, who chose to remain at school as well, also complained of the unexpected workload, describing it as “slightly irritating.” Still, Glenn does not regret remaining at school for his last month as a high school student.

“I didn’t think it was a good use of my time left at Staples, and I didn’t want to get stuck with an internship I didn’t like,” Glenn said.

Grundei is another senior who does not regret his decision to stay. Like Glenn, he felt that taking an internship was not ample use of his last month as a high school student.

“I chose not to participate in the internship program because I couldn’t see myself enjoying it more than I’d enjoy regular school,” Grundei said, “I have the rest of my life to work at a hedge fund, law firm, commercial real estate firm, fill-in-the-soulless-white-collar-job-here, and that’s what a lot of the internships that I was looking at were.”

But the students say one downside to staying at school is the loneliness at lunchtime.

“Lunch is the worst,” Glenn said. “If none of my friends are at lunch, I’ll just eat by myself or go to the library.”

Grundei agreed, and added how the senior section is “deserted by all but small pockets of seniors and gradually falling to the incursions of some of the more intrepid juniors.”

According to Gibson, some seniors are also taking the opportunity to sit with students they normally would not have sat with at lunch if all their friends were there. With the little time they have left, these seniors are bonding with their classmates.

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