Information about the Roswell Police Department’s internship program: ejohnson@roswellgov.com. Deadline for the 2015 spring semester is Nov. 1.
Summer internship season is underway, as the debate over the merits and drawbacks of unpaid versus paid continues. No matter the thinking, internships are a reality and often a requirement to graduating and earning a degree.
Most offer college credit for the work the students perform, others pay wages, some provide both, but all give a greater glimpse into the real world work environment of the discipline being studied.
For a Kennesaw State University Criminal Justice major, it started with an application submitted in February for one of the two spots with the Roswell Police Department. Officer Erin Johnson, coordinator of the program, advised that an extensive background check and a polygraph test are also required due to the sensitive nature of the work.
Other desirable internships are often located in cities that only students from affluent families, those that can afford to bankroll the living expenses and tuition, can afford to live in. This stacks the deck against students of mid- and low-income families, unless they are willing to further finance their education with costly and oppressive student loans.
This is a situation Lucas Newton, a graduating senior at Georgia Southern University, understands firsthand. A fashion merchandising major, internships in New York and Los Angeles were available to him, but even with pay, the living expenses in these cities were beyond his means. Unwilling to take on greater student loan debt to help cover the costs, he looked for local opportunities.
Newton now lives with his parents in Conyers and commutes to Roswell where he is an intern at the Pink Zipper Consignment Boutique, a new business near the historic district.
Owner Beverly Adams told me that Lucas is her first and only intern, and that she was looking for someone with initiative. Her shop features trendy vintage clothes that appeal to young women, but her clients also include those who consign their designer fashions.
The only guy, and a scruffy, bearded one at that, Lucas admitted, “In my first apparel class I made a skirt, charcoal grey with subtle black polka dots, knee-length, in a size zero, and I got a 99 on it.” His little sister’s friend had a job interview and that skirt helped her land the job and lots of compliments.
Lucas realizes that the nature of this small business allows him to more freely express his creativity and has discovered that some of what he learned in school had to be adjusted in the real world. Both Adams and Lucas say that his clothing designs may end up in her shop.
When he completes his internship in late July, he’ll have his degree and hopes to find a job as a stylist in Atlanta, and maybe someday have his own clothing line and boutique.
Often schools help their students find internship opportunities, but it’s never too early to start looking.
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