For most DePauw students, a full semester internship is not required. But for Management Fellows, it is.
The Management Fellows program, designed for students interested in business, requires students to take ten courses specific to Management Fellows, attend a lecture series and participate in a semester-long internship.
"About 95% of them do their internships during junior year," said Dr. Gary Lemon, professor of economics and director of Management Fellows.
During these internships, students are expected to complete two course credits, one of which is a business-writing course taken online, and complete a monthly summary, midterm evaluation and a final evaluation, all of which will count for their second course credit.
The Senior Panel, which took place last Thursday, was part of the McDermond Center Lecture Series that Management Fellows are required to attend. It's a chance for younger Management Fellows to hear what they have to look forward to and prepare for in terms of their internships.
"Hopefully they'll look at one of them and think, 'Wow. I'd really like to do that.'" Lemon said.
The six students sitting on the panel this year were Emma Scherer, Stefanie Hathaway, Adam Weaver, Laura Gerhardstein, Camila Romero, and Joe Wojda.
They participated in internships at the Dramatists Guild Fund in New York City, American Education Group in Grand Rapids, MI, PlanB Consulting in Berlin, Germany, BrandEra, Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas, IPC SUBWAY in Miami, and Cushman & Wakefield in Chicago, respectively.
Since DePauw has several strong alumni connections, it's relatively easy for these students to apply for internships anywhere they might wish to go. For instance, last year, students interned in India, Argentina and Germany.
Lemon offered advice for those wishing to expand DePauw's frontiers and find internships off the beaten track.
"Network, network, network, and when you get tired, network some more!" he said.
Weaver commented that his trip to Germany was a great internship for people who want to get out there and see what the world has to offer.
However, the panel admitted their experiences weren't perfect.
"Driving was a little terrifying at first," said Gerhardstein of the Texas roadways.
Weaver said that being in Germany wasn't always easy, despite his academic background.
"I am a German major, but they don't teach you how to have phone conversations," Weaver said.
Erika Krukowski, a junior and member of the audience who recently took part in a summer internship shared a piece of advice.
"Equally important as having an internship you do like is having one you don't like," she said.
Lemon echoed this in a statement, saying that internships help students figure out where they fit into life after DePauw. He said this could be figuring out something isn't for you, or having an internship that you love and realizing it's where you belong. At least three DePauw Management Fellows that Lemon knows of have received job offers from the companies where they interned.
"[The panel] definitely made me look forward to it even more," said Brandon Peters, a freshman.