Seniors attempt to salvage their internships

A former Staples student helps out the harbor watch program for his internship (Photo courtesy of Westport News)

In the past, when the school year came to an end and the hallways became significantly less crowded, underclassmen could really sense the entire class of students. This was the senior class, as they go off on their internships to either learn something in their career choice or destress from the grueling senior year. This year is obviously different as all internships are remote and because of that, seniors won’t be able to truly experience what a true internship is.

In the past seniors have had the opportunity to go into real life businesses and oversee the day-to-day operations. This was something that most, if not all, seniors had never experienced before and was a monumental step in their life. The beginning of the post high school life where college is on the horizon and the need for jobs increases.

This was a very important phase for a lot of students who don’t necessarily have the connections to start their own businesses and be able to grow inorganically. Seeing how these businesses start and work their way up the ladder is very valuable knowledge that is something that can’t be bought. 

For this year the seniors were given a couple options on what they could do. For some, the same jobs were available to work remotely and could stay with their original plan. If your same job wasn’t offered up again you would either choose a different location to work with, create an interview series within a workspace or get an original idea approved by staples internship leaders.

Although there may be fine replacements, nothing can truly resemble what a real internship is like. The seniors of this year are at a true disadvantage and it will be interesting down the road if you can compare the success this year’s class will have to previous years because of them having the same genuine experience as others.