This guest post is by our own Intern Queen Campus Ambassador Cari Buchwald from University of Georgia. Cari is majoring in Public Relations and Sociology.

I have always loved being in the “know”, in that I constantly seek to learn about what is happening throughout the world as well as within my community.  An avid newsreader, I have always known what was going on in all parts of the world, and I have always believed that it was my duty to relay this information to my family and friends.

Beginning college meant that I had to give up many of my daily habits because my schedule suddenly became so busy; reading the news happened to be put on the backburner.  I am sure many of you feel that classes, homework, and campus involvement appear to take over your life and make it seem as though school is isolated from the rest of the world.  When I came home for the first time, it was apparent that I had missed out on so many events, both locally and nationally, that were once a necessity for me to know; I decided then that the news simply had to be incorporated into my life.  I think that it is essential that all college students be in the “know” because we are the future, and if we do not know what is happening, how will we able to improve and contribute to the world?  Here are five ways for students to incorporate the news in their lives while still maintaining a busy schedule:

1)   Get a Twitter: Twitter has become an amazing news source in the form of social media.  This is a way for you to choose what kind of information you receive because you get to decide which sources are presented; these include sports, fashion, magazines, and national news.

2)   Read Your School’s Newspaper: Almost all universities have their own newspaper produced by college students featuring campus and local happenings.  This is a great way to know what is happening in your specific community that appeals to your interests.

3)   Get Ready With the News: Most of us do not have time to sit down and watch the news on a daily basis, so why not turn your TV on to a news station while you get ready for classes and social events? Hearing the news in the background will allow you to maintain your busy schedule while still being informed of current events.

4)   Change Your Homepage: When I open the Internet on my computer, the first thing that I see is Yahoo News”, which presents the most popular headlines of the week.  Setting your Internet homepage to a news website, such as CNN or Time Magazine, will make you more likely to read news articles because eye-catching headlines will be right in front of you.

5)   Talk to Your Friends: Conversations with my friends usually consist of gossip and funny stories about our days.  Recently, however, we have begun to talk about what is happening around us locally and nationally.  Try talking more with your friends about the news that you hear so you can inform one another about different happenings in the world.  In addition, being more aware of the news can be helpful in contributing to your class, or even during job interviews, which will make you stand out.

I hope you all try to incorporate at least a few of these tips into your daily routine because it is so important to be informed of current events, especially in college.  They certainly helped me, and I am hoping that more college students will soon be in the “know”.

Happy New Year! If you haven’t started your summer 2011 internship search – now is the time! Please take the next two weeks to map out your internship timeline and come up with a solid strategy to do your research, create your Intern Queen Dream List, determine company requirements and deadlines, put your materials together, and send out your applications! For more clarity on this process, check out an older blog of mine here.

Remember, 2011 is extremely competitive in terms of landing a top-notch summer internship so make sure you apply for at least 10 opportunities. We are working with a ton of new employers and will bring you new internship  listings every day. Please remember to read the internship advice and Campus Ambassador blogs as well. They should help you make the most of your internship journey. If you have any questions, be sure to email us here.

Here’s to a great 2011 summer internship season – best of luck to you all!

XOXO

Lauren Berger

“The Intern Queen”

Ever since I walked into the bookstore and picked up a copy of Gabrielle Bernstein’s, Add More -Ing To Your Life, I’ve been a fan. She is inspirational and I truly enjoy reading what she has to say. If you haven’t picked up Gabby’s book, I suggest getting it ASAP.

Check out the interview that ran on Gabby’s website, HERE.

This blog was written by Intern Queen Campus Ambassador, Ana, a junior at George Mason University. Ana is a communications major with a concentration in PR.

Being a full time college student, working part-time, and doing an internship can be not only time consuming, but incredibly stressful as well.

Finding time to do something for yourself can be difficult but it is even more important to do something with that time that makes you happy and relaxed.

So what do you do when you’re stressed out from school, work and all other things that take up so much of your time? What about zumba? Or even yoga? I have found these two very different types of exercises to be not only relaxing but amazing for my body as well.

Other than two years of volleyball in high school, I was never really active, and so running a mile for me can be very difficult. I started doing yoga at home because I was bit self-conscious to go to classes and figured that buying a DVD would work for me. Money well spent I would say! The DVD that I purchased is divided into morning and night yoga and it’s for beginners! I feel so relaxed after doing yoga and I also give myself a couple minutes to meditate and prepare myself either for a great day or a restful night.

Zumba on the other hand, is completely different from yoga! Recently, my sister asked if I wanted to go to a class with her and I thought why not? What do I have to lose except a couple of pounds, maybe? So I went with her and it was the best work out ever!

Not only are you constantly moving around, but it is actually fun! The dance moves that you learn you can use outside of the class. Every time my sister and I hear a song that is from our class, we just start dancing, wherever we are. And to those who are a bit self-conscious about dancing in front of a bunch of people, myself included, nobody cares what you look like when you dance. Everyone is there to have a good time, have fun, and tone his or her body. Your booty and legs might hate you for a couple of days if you put your all into it, but it is all worth it in the end.

Whether you’re looking to get rid of your stress by doing yoga or zumba, both will leave you feeling better than before. Also, since exercising releases endorphins, not only will you feel relaxed but you’ll feel happy as well.

What school do you go to and which exercise classes do you attend?

This all sounds fine and dandy so far – right?

Unfortunately, Sarah went from being ecstatic so start the job to I quote, “hating going to work each day because I feel so useless”. We all know what it’s like to walk into an office job every day that we hate – it’s not a good feeling. But remember, Sarah is an intern. Is it different?

Sarah told me that she goes to work each day and she sits at a table and does nothing. Sarah says that her boss pays no attention to her and tells her that she is too busy to give her any work to do. It has been 4 weeks and no work has come along. Sarah has spoken to her boss repeatedly about the issue and her boss keeps saying that maybe things will change and providing Sarah with very vague answers.

This situation is frustrating to hear about. Internship coordinators and employers are typically busy and often do not give interns the time of day. However, for this to happen over 4 weeks, is unacceptable. You should not bring interns on if you don’t have the time to give them work or delegate the task of “intern supervisor” to someone else in your office. In this case, here is the advice I gave Sarah:

First of all, do not take any drastic measures at this point. Steps 1 and 2 are below:

Have one more meeting with your boss. Be as formal as possible. Do not threaten to quit the internship. Do not mention leaving the internship. Ask your boss for advice. Tell her that you are really excited about this opportunity but feel that you haven’t been given anything to do over a significant period of time. Ask if there are opportunities for you to meet with other internship departments and help them out a few times per week. Tell her that you want to help the company out as much as possible and you don’t mind what department you are in. Afterall, the goal is to leave the company a well-rounded and knowledgeable individual. Ask your boss if you could work on a research project and that way you can occupy your time with that each day. Tell her that you want to help her out in any way you can. Make sure that your boss understands your motive is to help. You can also suggest lowering the amount of hours you intern each week so that your boss doesn’t feel pressure to constantly provide you with work.

Good luck!

Remember, internships teach you about YOU. What YOU like to do. How YOU like or don’t like to work.

Clip of my note from Anna:

October 10th marks my 2-month anniversary at my new job at Company X (AKA a school in the California area) and I am loving it!  At this point in my career, this job is perfect for me because it gives me the opportunity to explore what each department does at a university in a higher education setting, which is the field that I’m looking to go into.  I can honestly say that my career path would not have been set had it not been for my internship experience with you. While interning at Intern Queen, I realized that I enjoyed working with college students and helping them find their direction. It only further solidified my desire to go into higher education / counseling.

*I cannot express the kind of satisfaction that comes from reading a note like this. Congratulations, Anna!

2. If there is a problem of ANY kind, there should be a sit-down conversation or phone conversation with your employer where you both try to come up with a solution. In most cases, a solution can be reached. If you just quit, no solution can be reached.

3. Don’t burn bridges! You have to remember the EVERYONE KNOWS EVERYONE mentality.

4. You’ve lost a reference and a line on your resume. Once you leave an internship, even if you were the best intern for the few weeks you participated, you cannot email that person for a reference. Your reliability is now an issue. You also don’t want to put this on your resume because you didn’t complete the internship and you don’t want a potential employers to ask too many questions about it.

5. You must learn commitment. We often commit to things before we have a chance to think them through. Employers always say that students have commitment problems and often “flake” out. Don’t be the student that flakes out. Find a way for your internship to work within your schedule, work with your employers to make sure you HONOR YOUR COMMITMENTS. This is crucial at your internships and in life.

The report on the students from Ashland is that they ARE interested in potentially starting their own companies one day. In fact, one of the highschool students already runs her own fashion business (I know, very impressive!). The students seemed to need a bit of a nudge to go out there and get what they want.

Pictures to come soon and the interview I did with the Daily Independent.

xx, Lauren Berger ”The Intern Queen”