Need something to do this summer? Well, look no further. There are some perfect summer internships and opportunities for you to sign up for right now. These are great experiences that can even help you with jobs in the future. While Pace does not endorse any of these internships, they do highlight the opportunities for students, encourage them to participate and will support them with the application process.
Associate Director of the Isdell Center for Global Leadership Ted Ward helped pick the internships that Pace is encouraging this summer. One internship that sparked his interest was the Youth Tree Team with Trees Atlanta. This is a paid internship for students who are interested in environmental issues. Another great program and probably the most selective is The Bank of America student leaders program. “That is an in-depth, eight week summer program, where basically if you are accepted, once they select you as a student leader they actually partner you with a local non-profit organization that you work with over the course of the summer,” said Mr. Ward. This is also a paid internship! Not to mention, at the end of July, you get an all-expenses paid trip to Washington D.C. with the other student leaders from across the country. This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in government.
These are just some of the opportunities, including working with the CDC in their Disease Discovery Camp to study epidemiology if you are interested in healthcare and working with 21st Century Leaders, which has a variety of topics of interest you can participate in, including government. Pace even provides students with the chance to volunteer for them over the summer for a four week program called Keeping Pace. Mr. Ward sent a document to all of the high school students containing ten of these opportunities, along with how to apply to each.
“We do this to provide opportunities for students that are engaged in some of this work throughout the year to extend their leadership,” said Mr. Ward. “I think, first and foremost, why we offer these internships is because it is an opportunity to extend their leadership outside of our school community and into these nonprofit communities we work with but in a really deliberate fashion that we can’t do during the school year.”
If this still does not peak your interest, it might be worth knowing that these opportunities can help you network and learn other skills. This way, students can decide before college what major they want, or if the major they have always wanted to study is the right fit for them. “As far as career exploration goes, it is a fantastic way to get a sense of if you actually like to do the stuff that you say that you want to do,” said Mr. Ward.