An eight-week paid summer internship, Campus Alamance gives Elon University students the opportunity to gain professional experience. The program was created in 2021 and has grown from 14 students and 13 businesses to 38 students and 48 businesses this year.
In collaboration with Connie Book, the president of Elon University, Robin Kazemarek, the director of internships for the College of Arts and Sciences, created this program to provide students with internships.
“It’s helping to provide them with professional skills and being able to develop those for whatever that next step might be after Elon and then helping them to determine if that particular field is something that they’re interested in pursuing for a long term career plan as well,” said Kazemarek.
Campus Alamance is a partnership between Elon University and local organizations including, but not limited to, Benevolence Farm, Burlington Sock Puppets and All That Jas. Kazemarek said she hopes this program will grow more competitive as participants increase in number.
“It’s not a competitive program where we’re cutting people in the process but there might not necessarily be an opportunity for everyone,” said Kazemarek.
Employees work 20-30 hours per week, which for some businesses is helpful because it’s an exchange between intern and employer.
“We gain being able to help them learn, but also they can then help us with our workflow and our efficiency,” said Alli Hall, the practice manager of the Elon Veterinary Hospital “As they learn more skills, they get to do more things. We wanted to educate the interns so that they had a good knowledge base about the procedures that we do and the protocols that we do about basic veterinary care.”
In the past two years, Campus Alamance participants have continued to increase in number and so have the partnerships with the businesses.
“I work with the town, with the different departments of the government.” Elon University Student Avery Sloan said. “This week I was working with the planning department and the town clerk, previously I worked with the recreation and parks department.”
Sloan, a rising sophomore, is working at the Town of Elon in a political internship. Sloan said she believes that the Campus Alamance program would be a good opportunity for interns to partake in.
“It’s a good thing to do, especially if you don’t have something over the summer, it’s nice. If it’s something you’re interested in,” said Sloan
More information can be found on the Elon Job Network. Applications begin in December and end in February, the program takes place from June 1st to July 27th.
Liya Rike
Liya Rike was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and raised in Arlington, Virginia. Liya has always enjoyed writing and would write stories whenever she could, but she never knew where to point this passion. During the pandemic, she watched a lot of news coverage of the election, COVID-19 and other world events, and realized she wanted to tell stories. Now, she takes two journalism courses to hone her skills and passion for the field.
Toromo Funsho
Toromo Funsho was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, and now lives in Arlington, Virginia. A student at Washington Liberty High School, Toromo participates in various activities, including the UNICEF club, where she serves as secretary. She enjoys broadcast journalism class, which allows her to write scripts for interviews, conduct interviews, and edit and record school announcements. She plans to continue broadcast journalism next year to grow her production experience, which aligns with her career aspirations. Toromo also has an interest in psychology.