Using Journaling To Extract Greater Meaning From The Internship Experience

Abstract

Every year, over a million college students embark on an internship or cooperative experience. They do it to get experience, to explore their chosen field, as a “rite of passage”, to make professional contacts, or to put a line on their resume to help them get a job upon graduation.  No matter what the primary reason, most students could get a great deal from this experience. The internship can be an unique opportunity from which the student can learn about the nature of a particular job, career, organization or industry and most importantly, themselves.  One way to successfully capture this experience and extract additional meaning from it, is by keeping a journal of the internship experience. Keeping a journal develops an active and reflective learning posture rather than merely a passive one and thus aids in grasping more of what the internship experience has to offer. 

A three step process for journaling the internship is presented. Excerpts from a student's journal, the identification of student and faculty benefits from this exercise as well as suggestions and recommendations for faculty are also presented.