A change in Direction

I came into college an excited freshman who was pretty sure she wanted to major in psychology and then go on to become a clinical psychologist. The psychology department offers for credit internships and I decided that would be a great way to gain some hands-on experience in the field.

So, the summer after my sophomore year, I interned at a teen mom program in Washington, D.C. I worked alongside the social workers helping to plan programs and address the social, educational, and emotional needs for every teen mom in the program.

In this internship, I got to see the pros and cons of working in social non-profits and discovered how much the local and federal governments affect the funding and the way these organizations operate. I became frustrated by the many obstacles the organization I was working with had to face and many of them were government policy related.

I have always been interested in public policy and from this internship experience, I realized that I could help others and make the biggest change, not by going into psychology, but into politics.

On account of this one internship experience, my goals and dreams for my career path after graduation were changed.

Get an internship this summer, you never know how it could change your life!