GUEST COLUMNIST: Moving beyond the classroom

Guest Columnist, Randi Rothberg So, we go to Penn instead of having accepted full rides or significant scholarships from other universities. We study hard and remain involved in campus activities. We may have fun, and we may actually be the intellectuals we consider ourselves, but we're also doing a really great job of beefing up our resumes for potential employers. Penn's name seems to carry a good deal of weight. Each year companies' mailboxes overflow with resumes and cover letters. And on the whole Penn grads fare well in the job market because they are deemed intelligent, capable candidates. But the fact remains that we could be even more informed, more experienced and more marketable. We could shine even more. With all Penn's boasting about the bridges it continues to build to West Philly and Center City, though, our school -- and especially the College -- is remarkably lax about making sure that we actually cross those bridges and take advantage of the various internships and field work positions available to students on and off campus. Through Management 100, Wharton students go out into their community to help alleviate a specific problem plaguing the city. By the time they are upperclassmen, Nursing students are in one of the local hospitals, learning a bedside manner with which to tend to patients, as well as procedures such as inserting chest tubes. And most Engineering students, despite their difficult course loads, are involved in independent research with the help of the faculty. But why are only some College students, such as those pursuing Urban Studies majors, required to venture out of the classroom? Granted, students shouldn't have to be spoon-fed responsibility, but schedules are often so tight, and hours are just so few, that we cannot always set aside enough time to secure a worthwhile internship. This is not to say that Penn should advocate that all College students be forced to endure a semester's worth of photocopying, faxing and coffee-fetching -- even if these tasks could be completed at a company whose name, when affixed to a resume, will shine like gold stars. These activities are hardly anyone's idea of fun. And it is unlikely that "grunt work" tasks -- which students all-too-often find at many internships -- will expand our minds in any way, shape or form. But most internships don't even require all that much mindless work. In fact, many companies hire interns with the hope of training future employees. And even doing fieldwork in an area unrelated to one's future plans can be rewarding. When we're expecting to go down just one path we might be making the terrible mistake of wearing huge blinders. Experience in the real working world can open our eyes to new ventures we might wish to take, while allowing us to secure even more skills future employers will look upon happily. Other internships, those offered in fields we're considering strongly, can also provide some cappuccino for Penn students to wake up and smell. There is merit in the work we do, which, after we prove capable, will increase in importance and bulk. But there's also the added benefit interns get of making connections and gaining first-hand opinions of what their desired job entails. For example, after silently debating with myself for the past two years --and enduring a more vocal debate with professors and my parents -- I'm still not sure whether I'd like to be an attorney or a journalist after graduating from Penn. So for the summer I managed to land a position that combines the best of both worlds; I work at a television station that focuses on legal issues. I couldn't have found a better job, even if another company fed me free Ben and Jerry's every afternoon! Just today I went out on a photo shoot, where I met camera- and crewmen, a producer and a lawyer-turned-reporter. In between shoots they discussed the pros and cons of both career fields, as well as issues such as travelling, financial issues and raising children while managing a career. Bonus, they were also eager to answer any questions I posed to them while assuring me that when the time came I would make the right choice. Because of this internship, I'll be able to answer employers' and graduate school admissions officers' questions about why I am interested in pursing whatever path my feet eventually find themselves upon. I'm lucky that my class schedule allows me summertime off to pursue internships, and in the process augment my credentials and learn things classes just simply can't teach. Still, not every student has the opportunity to take even a semester off. Yet I would venture to place a large bet on the fact that West Philly and Center City are both filled with tons of opportunities for student employment for credit. For Penn to remain true to its desire to be a university of the 21st century, it should shuffle things up a bit so we can all learn intellectually and practically.