Internships and apprenticeships, when done right, give interns and apprentices life long lessons. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, these opportunities aren’t accessible to many and so we wanted to invite folks who have had these experiences to share some of the lessons they’ve learned.

Brian Zimmerman

Straight out of college with a fine art major, and zero real world graphic design experience, I returned to my hometown of Charleston, SC to try and land my first agency design job. After taking a part time job as a doorman at a local hotel to pay the bills, I knew I had to build my portfolio with some real client work, rather than just projects from art school. So, I decided to go straight to the best agency in town and ask for an unpaid internship. Lucky for me, I had a slight “in” with the creative director through a family friend, and she took me in and through me right into the thick of things in their creative department. Since it was unpaid, the internship hours were pretty vague, but I tried to be there as much as possible. Everyone in the creative department was super nice, and never made me feel inferior. Read more>>

Katey Johsnon

I am a huge fan of internships. The experience is worth it in itself, but if you can get paid, even better! What I wish someone had told me in high school is try everything. To me, figuring out your calling, passions, and purpose is much more about figuring out what you don’t like than what you do like. So don’t be afraid to try lots of different things. I have had so many different things in the journey that led to where I am today. I did internships, asked to shadow people, and had several different jobs.  A few internships I had were: Read more>>

Micah Jones

During the developmental stages of my professional career, I had the opportunity to work as an intern when I was 18. This was right at the end of my senior year of high school, and I was completing the second year of my cosmetology program. I interned with a highly respected stylist in my hometown, who was renowned for her expertise in natural hair care just as it was gaining popularity. She was not only a master of her craft but also had an impressive handle on the business side of things, which I found incredibly inspiring. Many of my mentors had trained under her as well, and it became clear to me that if I wanted to build a successful career, I needed to follow in those same footsteps. Read more>>

Emily Dunleavy

Within my master’s program, I was required to gain 700 clinical hours through internships. During these hours, I began seeing clients for the first time. I was nervous, to be sure, but I was also thrilled to finally be doing what I had trained for over many years. Before my very first session with my very first client, I met with my supervisor for a pep talk. My supervisor gave me very simple advice: sit with the client in their pain and stay in the room with their stories. Taking a deep breath, I repeated my mantra: “Sit and stay,” and stepped into my first session. Read more>>

Kelly Joshelle

Haha, I actually was just telling one of my model sisters this story… So a local artist had just put together a talent group of models and we had finally landed our first hosting event. We were so excited we were getting ready to find music dancing and taking pictures the whole time, etc. Fast-forward a few months, we ran into the dude whose party it was and he mentioned us getting paid — I’m laughing now haha— we were so confused! Having realized we just got played. Since then, things have been handled but I say all that to say that we all start from somewhere and being at square one never lasts.  Read more>>

Weikai Cao

In the summer of 2023, I completed an internship at Genentech, a pioneering biotechnology company. At Genentech, I led a research and development project focused on the removal of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) from biological analytes. SDS is widely used in biological sample preparation but poses significant challenges to liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS), an essential bioanalytical tool in all stages of drug development. Even small amounts of SDS can cause column overpressure in liquid chromatography columns and signal reduction in mass spectrometry, severely compromising bioanalytical sensitivity and performance. Read more>>

Nancy Jean Hudley

My internship was not titled as such. I first started volunteering in the Rape Crisis Center at Grady Memorial Hospital. For three years I spent 24 a month supporting rape victims as they went through this very challenging and demeaning process. It was there that I learned (1990) that 18% of males were sexually abused before the age of 18. I witnessed young men being brought to emergency who were assisted by male CASAs. That experience was truly an education. Not to mention, the number of men who never tell it. Along with my life experience raising my three children alone, two of which are males, those experience actually rooted the seed and watered it while volunteering as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for Fulton County Juvenile Court. There I served as a case manager, and the eyes and ears of the court, similar to DFACS (Department of Families and Children’s Services) case managers for the state. However, this was a non-paid program, I volunteered with for 8 years.  Read more>>