Kia ora!
One of the many possibilities available to Champlain Abroad students at AUT is the opportunity for an internship. There are a few ways to go about gaining this valuable international experience. One possible avenue is through the Study Abroad Cooperative Education paper. This is a course that counts for half the credits needed in a semester because it is internship intensive. Over the semester, you agree to intern for a minimum of 150 hours as well as create an internship portfolio. Fellow Champlain student Emmalee Osborne and I are enrolled in this paper. Another option would be to do a less intense internship while still taking a full load of classes. Or, as Ali Sousa is doing, you can work out a happy medium, a hybrid of sorts, granted you get Champlain and AUT approval.
Regardless of what you choose, InternEx will set up your internship for you. InternEx is a third party internship fixer working in Canada and New Zealand. AUT works closely with InternEx to help find its international students meaningful internships.
Let’s hear a little bit about the types of internships that Champlain students have this semester.
Connor Glassett
Secondary Education in English Major
Global Studies Minor
What is your internship?
My internship is at Murrays Bay Intermediate School. Murrays Bay Intermediate School educates children in years 7 and 8, generally between the ages of 11 and 13. Murrays Bay Intermediate is located in an affluent neighborhood; outside of academics the school offers a wide array of opportunities to students including sports, band and orchestra, various clubs, etc.
What types of things are you doing at your placement?
I have been placed in the International House. The International House provides English language support to international students both homestay and permanent residents alike. The majority of the students I work with are in their year 7. The whole of the international students are divided into five groups, which are classified by ability and range from no English skills to at grade level proficiency. I work with the lower three of the five groups. The group with which I do the most teaching is Group Two and they meet every Wednesday and Friday. Outside of the classroom, I am also coaching a year 7 boys basketball team.
Where is your placement and how do you get there?
My placement is in Murrays Bay, on the North Shore. It takes me about an hour by bus to get from my housing to the school. I make the round trip three times a week, Wednesday through Friday.
How does your placement reflect what you have been learning at school? How well does it apply to what you want to do in the future?
This internship is my longest student teaching placement to date. Although I am not an English Language Learner focused teacher, it is offering me heaps of experience. MBIS is also a really interesting place to be because of the level to which technology is integrated into the teaching and learning process. Lastly, teaching at a school in New Zealand allows me to learn how the education system differs from the US. I have no doubt that the things I am observing and learning from teaching my own lessons at MBIS will change my own personal teaching pedagogy.
Would you recommend having an internship in New Zealand to future Champlain Abroad students?
I would absolutely recommend that all study abroad students find internships regardless of the country that they are in. International experience is extremely useful in contributing to your own learning and in return it makes you more marketable to future employers. Not to mention, the best way to get to know a place, a people, and a culture is to be immersed in it. What better a way to do that than to work side by side with the people are from the country you are studying abroad in.
Ali Sousa
Graphic Design Major
What is your internship?
I work at BKA Interactive, which is a web application and design company.
What types of things are you doing at your placement?
At my placement, I help in designing posters, menus, web layouts and presentation layouts for a wide range of company clients.
Where is your placement and how do you get there?
My internship is on 317 New North Rd in Auckland, so it is a 25-30 minute walking distance from WSA.
How does your placement reflect what you have been learning at school? How well does it apply to what you want to do in the future?
Tons of the work I have been doing at BKA is similar to projects I have done in the past at Champlain. In the future, I would love to become a web designer, so working with the web team at BKA has been a great way of picking up new tips and tricks when it comes to coding and design.
Would you recommend having an internship in New Zealand to future Champlain Abroad students?
Yes, I would highly recommend that future Champlain Abroad students do internships because I feel like it is a good eye opening experience as to how a workplace environment can differ from country to country. It is also a great way of making connections.
Emmalee Osborne
Psychology Major
Business Administration Minor
What is your internship?
I work at Youthline, in the Alternative Education department. Youthline is an extensive company that’s main mission is to provide a safe place for youths by providing free healthcare, mental health care, and information on an array of subject matter: health, sex, banking, etc.
What types of things are you doing at your placement?
I work with students who are deemed “at-risk” and have come from mainstream schools. My main role is to mentor them and to help out with their coursework.
Where is your placement and how do you get there?
My internship is extremely gracious and gives me a lift to the placement most mornings. However, sometimes I walk about 24 minutes to the placement via Karangahape road (K-road). It’s a pretty straight forward walk.
How does your placement reflect what you have been learning at school? How well does it apply to what you want to do in the future?
This internship aligns perfectly with my future goals. Ideally, I would like to become a counselor and possibly work with adolescents. My internship specifically works with 14-16 year olds, which is the exact age group I have been interested in working with. At my placement I get to research the different aspects of the adolescent psyche and have had the opportunity to look more into New Zealand mental health system as well as Maori mental health. Both my supervisors have been extremely helpful in my research and have supported my personal development this whole semester.
Would you recommend having an internship in New Zealand to future Champlain Abroad students?
Definitely! It teaches you more about yourself, about others, and about other cultures. It is challenging, exhilarating and very rewarding. However it is what you make of it, so don’t slack on the job.
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN AN INTERNATIONAL INTERNSHIP? TALK TO CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE’S STUDY ABROAD ADVISERS IN THE OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION!
