BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University students are turning the causes closest to their hearts into summer internships.
Several students are working across the nation and overseas at internships for not-for-profit groups. According to Laurie Diekhoff, assistant director for the Hart Career Center, more students are choosing internships outside the traditional corporate world. “I believe this generation of students is very socially aware,” Diekhoff said. “They come to campus with a history of volunteer and community service experience, so it’s natural that they want to continue to be involved in meaningful service work.”
From helping in the fight against breast cancer to making the arts affordable, students are tackling internships that satisfy their desire to make a difference or give back to the community.
For the Cure
When Illinois Wesleyan University senior Lauren Gearhart sought out a summer internship with the St. Louis affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, she knew volunteering would mean supporting breast cancer activists and survivors like her sister, who was diagnosed this past November. “I always had an interest in the foundation,” said Gearhart, a business administration and sociology double major. “But I never took action to discover more about it until the cause hit home.”
Working under the director of marketing and public relations for the foundation, Gearhart began her internship in the middle of preparation for the 25th annual Komen Race for the Cure, which took place on June 21. Considered to be the largest series of 5K runs and fitness walks in the world, it is the Foundation’s most lucrative fundraiser; over a billion dollars has been collected for cancer research to date.
Gearhart recalls both the chaos of her first two weeks, describing the office phones as ringing off the hook in preparation, and the satisfaction of the day of the race itself. “Preparing for it was more challenging than I thought it would be, but well worth it when you see over 64 thousand people supporting your cause,” she said.
For the Pride
Junior Erin Strauts, an executive board member of IWU’s Pride Alliance, has taken her cause all the way to Washington, D.C. The political science major is living and working in the nation’s capital while she interns for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
The HRC is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) equality. As part of her internship, Strauts is writing a research paper exploring the correlation between visibility of same-sex couples in society and public opinion of relationship recognition for same-sex couples.
A research intern, Strauts is responsible for pulling together polling information, statistics and research on GLBT issues into one central document. “One of the careers I’m interested in is working in survey research and having not-for-profit clients,” said Strauts. “At HRC, I’ve gotten the experience of helping design a national survey, and I’ve made connections through this internship that will definitely help me in the future.”
For the People
Lauren Nelson, who is majoring in international studies, spent the second semester of her junior year abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia before traveling to Prague, where she attends classes at Charles University and interns at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) with the Russian language service.
RFE/RL’s mission is to provide uncensored news and information to countries where a free press is either banned by the government or not fully established. Broadcasting to 30 million listeners in 28 languages in 21 countries, the station reaches Eastern and southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, the Middle East and Central and Southwest Asia. Compiling news from diverse sources across the world, Nelson’s reviews are translated into Russian and broadcasted on “Time of Liberty,” a daily program.