Tim Wagner
Student Life Editor
COVID-19 has kept international travel to a minimum, however there are still options for Keene State students who wish to study away.
Director of Global Education Skye Stephenson held an information session for studying away with the Washington Center for internships. Stephenson said during this info session there was a representative present to answer questions about the program which is not typical for a run-of-the-mill info session. According to Stephenson, in the past, every semester a study-away fair would be held where the Washington Center would have a table set up for the fair to bring in new members. However, Stephenson said, because of COVID, the event was shifted to a virtual one. According to Stephenson, “Any major a person has you can probably find something relevant in the Washington Center.”
She also mentioned that with the recent climate, the Washington Center has been hosting virtual internships. However, Stephenson said a lot of the internships fall under the social science umbrella. Stephenson said, “Somebody last semester who is a business major wants to go into human resources so she had a full-time internship at a human resources office actually in the Salvation Army. It is just not government offices… We have had people do internships in the Peace Corp for the Democratic and Republican party.”
The Washington Center is more than just an internship program. According to Stephenson, “It is a full semester or summer program. For the semester you get 16 credits; that includes eight credits for the internship, which is a full-time internship, [and] four credits for a once-a-week thematic course. You have options and it’s taught by specialists in Washington D.C.. For instance, today she was mentioning the most popular course is ‘scandalous Washington’ which is about all the Washington scandals… so you choose one of those and then you also have a professional development workshop where you develop your own portfolio and you have a whole lot of different themes and topics to learn from.” Stephenson added that, during the summer, that program is a little shorter.
If any Keene State students are interested in studying with the Washington Center, Stephenson said, “When you apply you have to submit a statement of interest and a resume. Then, once you are accepted, they contact you and place you with an internship placement supervisor who works personally with you.” Stephenson said the reason for this supervisor is because “typically it is not just ‘I want to work for the state department or peace corp.’”
There are so many different things you can do, so what do you want to do? According to Stephenson, Keene State’s first-ever intern in the Washington Center was a sophomore who earned placement in the Democratic party and she started doing copywriting for the speeches for the Democratic candidates that came through New Hampshire.
If any student would like more information, the Global Education Office is located on the first floor of the Elliot Center.
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