I have at last struck internship gold, and I have come across two unique possibilities. As a freshman, there is a low chance for either option to count as credit since the equine department prefers juniors and seniors to be officially in an internship for the sake of credit, but they both can provide me with some valuable experience. The first option would be to return home during the summer and work unpaid for the therapeutic riding center I started riding at in 2008. We have four horses at the moment, and our operation is small but growing. We did run into financial trouble last year, but donors have been able to keep the business alive. My tasks would mainly include assisting with barn work and caring for the horses. My second option is to go work for a camp in Pennsylvania affiliated with the United Methodist Church who has several horses on their farm. They provide the housing and food however, the internship would last the entire summer from May until one week prior to the fall semester in August. My tasks would be identical to the work performed back home, but the demographic would be much broader, the general population, rather than people with special needs. The Pennsylvania offer is paid, approximately $225 per week, but the work is beyond a typical 40 hour work week seperated by only 24 hours off from Saturday until Sunday. I have been considering each option thoroughly, and I would like the advice of College Confidential to see where you think would be best for me.
If one gives you housing, food, and pay and you’re essentially performing the same duties, I’d say choose the paid position. It’s a lot of money to turn down, and if you need money, you’d probably end up getting a second paying job with the first internship, which would basically mean you’d be working many hours for less pay anyways. Assuming you need money, that is. How much work would you be doing exactly?
I would also do the paid position.
I would do the paid position…it is good to work in a different work environment to get exposure to different people and working environments.
Your home intership may have a wonderful leader or a terrible leader and seeing different management styles is good as you choose what you do in the future.
you may also learn new techniques/strategies from a new place.
Something quite significant has changed since I made this post. It turns out the state will be able to provide the bioptic driving training needed for me to obtain a license over the summer. The program requires for me to live a month at state owned facility, so I will not be participating in an internship over the summer. It is going to solve some issues I have experienced though. My aim is to work with the Kentucky Horse Park or a thoroughbred farm next year. I am grateful for the state offering me the training now since it has been very difficult to find people who can provide me with transportation in a small town where public transportation is not an option. I suspect many opportunities will come from a having a driver’s license.
That’s great! Have you been following developments with driverless vehicles? That will be an option for you in the future as well.