. . . but it seems near on impossible. I think that an internship, while not providing the income a summer job does, gives a lot more experience. I want to find something within my favored fields: social sciences (politics, history, law, psychology, so on) or the language arts (well, mainly journalism).
Difficulties include: 1. My school doesn't offer any sort of connections to do this through, so I'm doing this all on my own. 2. Well, most of these establishments prefer college interns. I've written to two Congressmen saying I'd like to do an unpaid internship, particularly helping on the 2006 campaign trail, and they told me they were looking for older applicants. 3. It's downright hard finding the places that do do internships.
Anyone had any experience with this sort of thing? Any advice you could give me? I'm not really interested in most of those summer programs they offer high school students--too expensive and the ones I was involved in, well, were pathetic in comparison to my other experiences.
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
It's pretty difficult to find any internship, paid or unpaid, as a high school student. I'd advise writing to private practicioners in fields you're interested in (politics, history, law, psychology, so on). Write a great cover letter explaining why you want an internship and why they should give you one. Include a resume, even if there isn't much on it.
I know my parents both got offers of this nature and accepted people on a case-by-case basis. The trick is to stay away from high-profile individuals/businesses, as these will already likely be swamped with similar requests from people who, in their eyes at least, are more qualified.
Posted by GaalDornick (Member # 8880) on :
"I think that an internship, while not providing the income a summer job does, gives a lot more experience."
I'm in high school too, so my opinion is not very qualified and I can't speak from experience, but why don't you just get a regular summer job? You've got plenty of time to get experience later on in better positions. And when you go to college, you'll probably need the extra income you could get from a job, and then you could use your extra time to get a better internship since you're now in college. So a job now may actually help you get more experience in the long run.
Again, just my opinion, I'm just throwing this option out there.
Posted by erosomniac (Member # 6834) on :
quote:I'm in high school too, so my opinion is not very qualified and I can't speak from experience, but why don't you just get a regular summer job? You've got plenty of time to get experience later on in better positions. And when you go to college, you'll probably need the extra income you could get from a job, and then you could use your extra time to get a better internship since you're now in college. So a job now may actually help you get more experience in the long run.
This is also true. If you can get any position of worth this summer, the experience and money far outweighs (IMO) anything you could get out of any internship geared towards a highschool student.
If you have the self control to actually save your summer wages, these will be INVALUABLE in college - unless, of course, your parents are subsidizing your expenses, in which case you don't have to worry about it. Posted by Black Mage (Member # 5800) on :
I actually am applying for summer jobs, too, in case the internship falls through.
Mostly this is because I'd like to do something over the summer that's productive, and, I don't know what word to use, enriching.
Posted by ambyr (Member # 7616) on :
If you're a junior in High School, you should be asking not about a Congressional internship but about the Congressional Page program.
More information here (pdf) and here .
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
When I was in high school, I had a few internships of sorts, though I didn't really realize what they were at the time. I got them by making personal contact with people who didn't mind having me help them out, so long as they didn't have to pay me anything. I got some pretty cool stuff out of the deal, and I also got incredible references and a great letter of recommendation that my university was certain to mention in my scholarship award letter. So I think internships are great. I think the biggest key is to develop a personal connection with the people involved. Be friendly. Be personable. Have something unique to offer. That worked very, very well for me.
-pH
Posted by CaySedai (Member # 6459) on :
I know our paper hires interns in the summer - I think they are college students. However, they hire high school students to write sports stories all year round.
We've had a high school student as an evening receptionist (til 8 p.m.). We might hire a high school student to be a paginator (news page designer). These are all possible ways to get a feel for the newspaper business.
You could try being a page in the State Legislature. The Iowa Legislature uses high school students as pages, so other states probably do, too.
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
I'd like to do an intern this summer... erm...
Posted by Black Mage (Member # 5800) on :
Whoo! I talked to a few friends who've done political internships before. According to one with an incredible amount of experience (she knows almost every Republican politician or staffer in Georgia), it's all who you know--and offered to send out feelers to see if she could find me a spot. I said thanks, but wait, and talked to another friend whose family is connected to most of the Democrats in Georgia. And now I'll probably be working on Leautenant Governor Mark Taylor's 2006 election team. I love my people . . .
I'm still sending out letters to the other politicians and our local paper right now, though.
Telp: . . . You know, actually, I'm not even gonna respond to this.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)