Athletic training major Daniel Stam plans to memorize the Arizona Cardinals’ roster before he leaves mid-July for an internship with the team. Daniel, like many other students, is spending his summer learning the tricks of his trade, taking part in an internship that will make him more valuable in his field.
Stam will be helping the athletic trainers during the team’s preseason through the exclusive internship, working directly with the players and coaches wherever he is needed. He expects to help set up practices for the team and help keep the players hydrated, experience that will prepare him for what he hopes to do in the future – become an athletic trainer for a professional sports team.
“This is the best experience that I could get really in terms of intensive care and just how many doors it’ll open up for my future,” Stam said.
Stam began his search for internships in January. He also applied and was accepted to a program at Notre Dame where he will be assisting with youth sports camps, providing first aid, wound care and also basic injury evaluation for children.
“The thing with working with a university for sports camps (is) you’re usually not under direct supervision, so that’ll be the best thing with just getting experience and having to come up with return-to-play decisions without somebody there all the time. (I’ll have) the confidence that I can handle myself in various situations on my own,” Stam said.
Stam’s internship is not only a huge opportunity but quite a change, having grown up in Marquette and now moving to a big city. That, paired with the new experiences with each internship, is exciting and nerve-wracking for Stam.
“I’m a little nervous, but of course that’s natural,” Stam said. “If I wasn’t nervous then that would mean I don’t care enough, but yes I’m incredibly excited for this opportunity. I can’t even express how much I am.”
According to Steve LaFond, assistant director in Career Services, internships like Stam’s are incredibly helpful for students once they start looking for jobs. Students with internships tend to be better candidates in jobs because they have real-world experience.
“Internships are always important but particularly now in a very competitive job market, there are fewer good jobs for new college graduates,” LaFond said. “Any time a student can get practical experience in their job field will help them.”
LaFond suggests that students interested in interning next summer start looking as soon as September. Some experiences have deadlines around November and December. NMU’s Career Services offers a number of resources, including lists on their website about internship opportunities and job fairs with possible intern employers. The Career Services office also can provide counseling help to students looking to strengthen their resume or cover letters.
“I recommend beginning early and going to job fairs on campus, because a lot of the employers have opportunities for students to intern or get career-related jobs,” LaFond said.
Jason Morgan, former president of ASNMU, recently moved to Washington D.C. to take an unpaid job with political action committee, Progress Network USA, as communications director. Progress Network USA is a political group that raises funds and awareness for specific candidates and issues across the country including education, children, women, marriage equality and science and research.
Morgan will continue working in the fall, taking a semester off of school, and will be paid for his work at that time. He feels that this experience will benefit him in a number of ways.
“I think it’ll really help me in the future because it’s kind of a chance to really see what politics is like and whether it’s something I want to do with my life,” Morgan said. “The connections that I’m making and the experience I’m getting and just the sheer amount of learning that’s involved in everything that I’m doing out here will help me immensely in the future … it’s just educational as well.”
For now though, Morgan appreciates being surrounded by what he loves.
“I’m really enjoying it out here: the job and just being in the city. There’s so much history and so much to do and everything is essentially politics all the time,” he said.
Dave Lyon, another Northern student and computer science major, is currently interning for the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center for a service known as Helioviewer, a program that takes pictures of the sun. Lyon is helping to produce of iPhone and iPad interfaces for future use. The internship is 10 weeks and it’s paid. He’s also spent time visiting Washington D.C.
“It’s a very talented group and we’re doing really cool work,” Lyon said. “What we do makes the lives of solar physicists easier
