Written by Addi Province | Photo provided by Hunter Woodall
Several students, from a variety of majors, are taking on internships this semester. Some students will be gone for up to eight weeks, while others for only a week. One such student is sophomore Topher Hearn, an accounting major interning at CBIZ in Memphis, Tennessee.
“My normal day looks like working on client tax returns along with some supervisors,” Hearn said. “I’m interning from Jan. 10 until the end of March.”
With spring classes starting Jan. 10, student interns had to make adjustments to accommodate being absent from campus.
“I’m an accounting major so when I get back, I’ll take two accounting credits, along with an online Bible class I am in right now,” Hearn said. “My internship also counts as credit, and I’ll be staying for intersession most likely, so that will put me at 15 hours.”
Other students are taking much shorter internships that only pose minimal interference with regularly scheduled classes. Senior Hunter Woodall spent the first week of classes in Dallas, interning for Lace Collective.
“I’m doing market help for Lace Collective,” Woodall said. It’s a showroom at the Dallas Apparel Market. Say you go shop for Nike at Dick’s Sporting Goods. Dick’s will go to the Nike showroom and pick what pieces they want; they won’t carry their whole line. My job is to assist local companies in picking out pieces that best fit their clientele.”
Woodall is an integrated marketing communications major, with plans to graduate at the end of this semester. She worked at the Dallas Apparel Market in October of 2021, fulfilling the internship requirement for her degree, but wanted to continue making connections by spending another week there.
“The most challenging thing about this internship is the pace,” Woodall said. “My retail background has helped a lot, but I have just a week to pick up on the lingo and flow.”
Woodall will take classes upon her return to campus. She said she expects a smooth transition due to communication with understanding professors about her internship and her utilization of Canvas.
Junior Matthew Maynard, is also in Dallas working for Deloitte, a large accounting firm. Having just completed a week of online orientation, Maynard is anticipating the jump to working with clients and getting hands-on experience.
“All accounting majors have to take a paid internship or take an alternative class, so it is ‘basically required’ but also highly recommended,” Maynard said. “This definitely prepares me for what I want to do, and also shows me what I would be doing after graduation.”