Clarke Central High School’s Academic Internship’s promotional materials are displayed above. Senior Neha Mohanty engaged in the program and found it beneficial. “it is a lot of work. It is pretty time-consuming and strenuous but I think that at the end of the clay, the benefits outweigh all the time and all the work that you have to put in,” Mohanty said. Graphic courtesy of David Ragsdale
Clarke Central High School senior Neha Mohanty talks about her experiences in the University of Georgia Young Dawgs Internship programs, a partnership with CCHS through the Academic Internship.
News staffer Luis Garcia: What is your internship?
Senior Neha Mohanty: I intern at the McPhaul Center, which is a child development lab, and I work with the infants.
LG: Why did you pick this internship?
NM: I was a junior and I heard that you could get three credits and that it was really rigorous and it would stretch you. I knew that it would allow me to take a step into whatever field I wanted to pursue.
LG: How much room do you have to choose your own internship?
Clarke Central High School senior Neha Mohanty poses for a photo on Feb. 14, 2018. Mohanty is in the University of Georgia Young Dawgs internship and interns at the McPhaul Center. “This semester I chose to work at McPhaul because I know that I want to go into sports medicine but I don’t really know what age range I want to work with,” Mohanty said. Photo by Kelly Fulford
NM: (English department teacher and Clarke Central High School Young Dawgs program coordinator David Ragsdale) and (Young Dawgs program director Jim Geiser) did a really good job at talking to all of us, back in my junior year in May. They talked to me and they asked me to make a list of where I wanted to intern. It just helps if you have connections but even if you don’t, Mr. Geiser does a good job, especially if it’s within (the University of Georgia), of finding people who you can work with. If you tell them what field you’re interested in, they do their best to put you somewhere that you’re interested.
LG: What is an average day likevfor you at your internship?
NM: I get there, I go in, and I wash my hands. Honestly, I just sit and play with the babies for about two hours a day. I help feed them, I help put them to sleep, do everything that a teacher would, except we’re not allowed to change diapers for other legal reasons. There’s two teachers and there’s eight babies, so obviously there’s gonna always be something for me to do. If one teacher’s holding one baby, and another teacher’s holding another, and then one starts crying, that’s my job. I’m just kind of like a third teacher in there.
LG: What do you gain from that environment that you wouldn’t gain from school?
NM: At school, especially because there were three credits that I don’t really need, would just take gym or psychology, or just a random elective. As fun as that would be, it really wouldn’t help me take a step forward. (The internship) looks really good on my resume and my college applications which puts me a step forward and really helps. I think that if anyone has the free time in their schedule it would be great. We also do precis every week and we do reflections and papers, and so it helps you get ready for college.
LG: What are the pros and cons of your internship?
NM: The pros are, if you know what field you want to go into, like with sports medicine, you can definitely start early. I was the youngest one (at the internship), but they told me that what I was doing, they didn’t start doing until they were seniors in college. It gives me a really good boost into the field, and even if you don’t know what purpose you want to go into, it’ll help you. (For cons,) it is a lot of work. It is pretty time-consuming and strenuous but I think that at the end of the day, the benefits outweigh all the time and all the work that you have to put in.
