Name: Archit

Year: Sophomore

Major: Political Science

Minor: Science in Human Culture

CFS Concentration: Business Field Studies

 

 

I have a multitude of thoughts about various topics relating to my experience thus far. For students and perhaps prospective interns, I hope this information will especially be helpful.

 

The CFS Classroom Experience and “The Inevitable Tradeoff”

My classroom experience is different from many others in CFS as I am pursuing the business culture program, which is an online course that meets with students working in industries all over the country. My classmates are in DC with me, California, New York, etc. The program was designed to enable students to pursue internships across the country while receiving Northwestern credit. The experience of connecting with a virtual community has been a beautiful opportunity to work within the online world of education. It is an interesting model that attests to the ability for individuals to learn and engage in meaningful discourse while being separated by hundreds of miles.

 

The lack of my on-campus presence does come with its occasional challenges. When I log on to Facebook, for example, I see my friends and peers back at Northwestern having a fantastic time. A new class of freshmen has entered, but I know I will not have the same experience getting to interact with them as the year progresses. My classmates will mature together for a quarter without me. It is tough to comprehend all of that.

 

Nonetheless, the experience here is so energizing, we often lose ourselves in the work we are doing. The worlds between Northwestern and the off-campus internship are disjointed by distance, yet punctuated by the same fabric of learning. After all, CFS is a model of learning in which we remain a part of the Northwestern community while simultaneously living in the real world. Additionally, I stay in touch with all my friends on campus regularly via social media, texting, and Facetime/Skype. That way, it doesn’t make me feel bad about not being on campus.

 

Value of the CFS Experience

There are two general forms of learning in my view: classroom-based learning and experiential learning. The latter is a form often less capitalized on that is the manner by which we amalgamate theoretical concepts taken from the classroom with a real-life practicum. For example, at Northwestern, I have taken courses in global health and political science. Outside of class, I have taken an MOOC on health care policy. Here in DC, my internship is directly related to applying said information in a real-world setting—a setting in which I can demonstrate my ambitions for the material while at the same time furthering my career aspirations.

 

Experiential learning, needless to say, comes through a wide gradient of activities, ranging from leadership on campus to volunteerism or work in the outside community. However, CFS takes that process of learning to a higher plane insofar as it enables the pursuit of an education directly related to a student’s field of interest while providing an excellent breadth of exposure to a real-life work environment.

 

When I am in DC, I feel empowered, for I know that my Northwestern education is manifesting in a different format. The most wonderful realization is that I have now set a foundation for my future, and once I graduate in a year or two, I will be able to capitalize on this foundation and engage in a climb upward to my eventual goals.

 

My Internship Search Process

I have a couple of tips for maximizing research capacity in order to find interesting, relevant internships:

1. Book an appointment with an NCA Adviser or Mark Presnell, Executive Director of NCA: These people know what they are doing. They have seen a vast collection of students pursue internships in a wide variety of settings. Even if they do not have as much relevant exposure to your industry of interest, they have the capacity to connect you with individuals who do. Make use of that.
2. Subscribe to relevant listservs: For example, I subscribe to the Buffett Center listserv, for I knew that they are actively involved in global engagement opportunities. Through the Center’s listing of events and opportunities, I was able to connect with an individual at a specific event that then opened my awareness to a new field of opportunities
3. Google: A search engine is your best friend. Exhaust it by extracting and absorbing every bit of information you can from it. When you have a completely free day with nothing better to do and perhaps your peers are busy, I recommend sitting down and spending some time searching key terms that relate to your experience. I received my current experience by finding it through a string of searches on Google.
4. Create a profile with Our Northwestern (https://our.northwestern.edu/welcome): This is a resource that lists the contact information for Northwestern alumni. You can search people by name or you can do a general organization search. For example, when I search “United States Senate and health,” I see Northwestern alumni in various departments of health policy across the departments and offices. Networking becomes so much easier.
5. Talk to your peers, professors, and advisers: This is an obvious one, but you’d be surprised at how hesitant students are sometimes to simply ask their friends or professors/advisers about past experiences. I recall a time freshman year when I met someone who had worked at an organization I was very interested in, but I assumed I would come across as “cheeky” by asking about it. This is false. There is a fine bright-line between approaching a peer and asking about how the experience was for him or her versus crossing the line to bother them with the expectation that they will help you.
6. All of this is entirely reciprocal: When you find interesting opportunities, share them with your friends. We’re all here at Northwestern to benefit from the education, but more importantly, we are here to work with each other. Individuals thrive in institutions and in a collection of voices and experiences. One of the biggest mistakes I have seen people make is to hide what they are working on due to a presumption of competition that pervades our Northwestern culture. By sharing your experiences, you can at least validate the claim to cooperation and become a model for others—many of the wonderful things I learned or gained here are things I have gained from others or given to others

 

Experiences at your internship

My internship has been everything I could have asked for. As an insider to the political system, I witness Senators debating important legislation, staffers compiling different policy positions and papers, and experts from the private sector discussing arguments with a wide assortment of individuals. Everything I learn in the classroom makes so much more sense, and it is not only inspirational, but also humbling to be given the opportunity to work in such an educational environment.