The World of Work-based Learning.

By Connor Smith

There are many different internships and work-based learning programs that are options for the seniors of LHS, but are they worth taking instead of just sticking to a normal internship

“I’ll know if I end up wanting to teach,” said senior Kailyn Komrska.

Kailyn does cadet teaching at Perry Worth with the kindergarten students there. She absolutely loves it. She said it is a lot of fun being able to help teach the kids math, and feels like the internship for her personally is a great opportunity for her to find out if she wants to teach.

“It can be really hard to deal with conflict in the classrooms sometimes,” said Komrska.

At every internship there is going to be some sort of conflict that is hard to deal with.  For Kailyn, she has to help kindergarteners handle things like emotions and disputes between students.  It can be an extreme challenge at times and is one of the biggest downsides of doing something like cadet teaching

“I get to have a lot of one-on-one time not only with patients, but also with the physical therapists which allows me to build personal relationships with them,” said senior Shaun Russell.

Shaun Russell is an assistant at the Athletico here in Lebanon for the physical therapists.  It is something he felt he has been very interested in for a while and gets to learn a lot. He learns a lot from the physical therapists about specific injuries and treatments for them.  But what is just as valuable to him as that is the relationships he forms with his mentors and the patients he learns to help.

“It’s not for everyone, but can help people find out what they wanna do,” said Russell.

He feels passionately about pursuing a career in physical therapy and his internship has been a great opportunity for him to do something in that field.  He has gotten to explore what it is really like in the field that he wants to be in when he grows up.  It allows even for students who don’t know what they want to do yet to explore their options and try something new.

“This, for me, is more valuable than normal classes.  I don’t even remember some classes, but this stuff really sticks with me because it is something I’m interested in,” said Russell.

For students like Shaun, school isn’t always the best option for what their interests are.  Internships are clearly the best option for students like Shaun who feel like the classes they are in aren’t important to them.  It’s an opportunity for them to pursue the things they are actually interested in.  For many students just like Russell internships are exponentially more valuable than two more regular classes are and are a fantastic learning opportunity.

“It’s not for everyone, but it’s a great opportunity.” said Russell.