Marissa Filletti, Staff writer 

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.”

As busy semesters come and go, students are continuously encouraged to do internships. Aside from looking great on a resume, internships create endless opportunities for students; providing them with real, hands-on experience, allowing them to network with professionals in their field and teaching them valuable skills that cannot be learned in a classroom. Not only that, but students can better assess the type of work they enjoy doing, allowing them to specialize their major to better fit the specific area of the field that they want to enter.

Every aspect of doing an internship gives students an advantage among their peers, a crucial asset when entering the competitive job market.

Victoria Lamanna, a recent Utica College alumna, interned at Sitrin Health Care Center while at UC and upon graduation was offered a full-time position. She was quick to give advice to students.

“Treat classes like a job interview,” she said. “Your professors can be one of your greatest resources and may even recommend you for a job. My professor became my boss one day.”

Similarly, UC senior Kevin Montano has held an internship in UC’s Office of Marketing and Communications since his junior year and has recently landed a part-time job at the local TV station WKTV as a multimedia journalist.

“My internship has given me a lot of opportunities to interact with the local news media and I think networking really helped me get my foot in the door,” Montano said.

Many students are interested in doing internships but don’t know how to get one or where to even begin looking. The Office of Career Services at UC offers endless amounts of resources for students such as career counseling, resume and cover letter building, help in creating a LinkedIn profile and of course, searching for internship opportunities.

“Any student can do an internship, it’s just a matter of where and when” Sarah Garramone, employer relations coordinator in the office of career services at UC, said.

“The first thing I would suggest to students is to start researching companies in their area of interest and in the geographic area that they want to complete their internship,” she said. “They can do it during the academic year here in Utica. Some majors even allow internships to count as credits, or students can complete an internship in their hometown over the summer.”

Keira Goin, UC junior and goalie for the women’s hockey team, is a public relations major and interns for the Utica Comets hockey team.

“Definitely intern somewhere that interests you,” she said. “I’m learning about PR and get to be around amazing athletes that I look up to and respect so much. It doesn’t get better than that.”

Garramone stressed that internships are what will stand out when applying for jobs in the future.

“The value and the opportunity you get from completing an internship is indispensable,” she said. “That’s what sets you apart from other applicants and it can really make the difference of whether or not you get a job.”