Internships

Internships have exceptionally positive outcomes for students and community organizations. In addition to providing students hands-on experience, they provide the talent and human resources that community organizations could not otherwise afford.

Interns often find that the the security, knowledge, and confidence derived from their internship experience allows them to pursue additional opportunities during and after their time at the University, from learning abroad and international volunteerism to personal projects and extracurricular research in pursuit of their career goals. AMES students pursuing non-paid internships may apply for our Lawrence Scholarship in Experiential Learning, as the following three students did, or visit the scholarship and grants page to learn about other opportunities.

Spencer Buchanan

Executive Fellow, Federal Executive Board of Minnesota

"My internship at the Federal Executive Board of Minnesota allowed me to complete two important projects for the federal government that also gave me valuable experience relevant to my career goals. First, I created a continuity plan for various federal agencies, including the international headquarters of an agency. These plans ensure that the government can maintain operations in the event of a terrorist attack or other catastrophic incident. For my other project, I developed an annual report for the Federal Executive Board. My internship experience provided excellent training in leadership and emergency management, and I am thankful for the opportunity to focus on my professional growth rather than my finances."

Vy Duong

Teaching Intern, LearningWorks

"My experience teaching at LearningWorks has changed my thoughts, my views, and my life. I am naturally a quiet and keep-to-myself type of person, so you can imagine that the nature of teaching science to middle schoolers has challenged me to grow in many ways! When I first started last summer, classroom management was difficult. This year, though, I took on the role of a leader in my classroom with confidence. I now focus on what the students will learn, rather than what I want to teach, and make time to check in with my students to find out about how they learn, how they are feeling, and what I can do to support them. Though I don’t know that I’ll continue teaching in the long-term, I am interested in a career that allows me to support kids and teens so that they can pursue their dreams and their goals. I do know that I want to teach at LearningWorks again next summer so that I can work with the same students as ninth-graders. I am also thinking about teaching abroad after I graduate and hope that that experience will further clarify what I want to do. As a first-generation college student, I am so thankful for the opportunity to get hands-on experience in a field that I am not 100 percent sure I want to pursue, but that I wanted to try."

Kongfuechi Moua

International Trade Intern: United States Commercial Office

"My internship at the US Commercial Service gave me a valuable experience and helped me better understand my career goals. Among other things, I learned a lot about the process of exporting, social media marketing, and managing client information. My key project and biggest accomplishment was assisting one of the trade officers manage company information for a water infrastructure trade mission in Southeast Asia. This project taught me a lot about organization and meeting deadlines, as I had to make sure that each company provided all of the necessary information and materials on time.

"The most valuable thing I discovered from this experience was that government work is not the best fit for me. I would not have known this if I hadn’t had a chance to try it out with an internship! I hope to find a job in the private sector after I graduate."

2021 Awardees

  • Lisa Lilyerd
    • Internship at the Korean American Association of Minnesota, teaching Korean to Korean American students.
  • Meg Hellerud
    • Internship at the Legal Rights Center, which seeks justice and promotes racial equity for those to whom it has been historically denied.
  • Casey Chang
    • Internship at CRCC Asia, which provides opportunities for students and young professionals fresh out of college to gain work experience in various intercultural environments.

2020 Awardees

  • Andy Columbus
    • Internship at the Literacy Matters Foundation, a non-profit organization helping K-3 students in need of reading and writing assistance.
  • Ashley Agwatu
    • Internship with Metro South Adult Basic Education as a teacher’s assistant (TA)  in one of their online English as a second language (ESL) classes.