Month: August 2022

My internship with the NJSPB this summer was undeniably rewarding. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect was learning and experiencing more than I ever could in a classroom. While I highly value my education, my internship introduced me to a professional work environment, strengthened my hard and soft skills, and familiarized me with the inner workings of the criminal justice system. After all, these rewards are not typically feasible in a traditional academic setting. As a result, I am positive my experience this summer will give me a competitive edge in the future job market.

The most challenging aspect of my internship was maintaining my self-confidence. As the only intern in my unit (and the floor of the building), it was intimidating being the new face in the office. Most people have worked for the NJSPB for several years and know their colleagues well. Additionally, with no prior experience in the criminal justice field, a great deal of information was conveyed to me, all of which I did my best to absorb. Nevertheless, as the weeks passed, my confidence grew, and my knowledge expanded. I learned not to be afraid to speak up, ask questions, and share new ideas. Fortunately, I was guided and supported tremendously by my supervisor and colleagues. I am very grateful for such an enlightening summer, and I am excited to return to campus soon for my senior year!

Sydney Gero ’23
Criminal Justice

Internships are a valuable asset to traditional college education. The most rewarding aspect of my internship thus far has been the opportunity to develop professional skills while also furthering my knowledge in the field through hands-on application. In many of my academic courses, I have learned about various IT tasks and concepts. However, I was not able to fully grasp the ideas presented in class until I was able to see them in action. I now have a clearer understanding of what Information Technology really involves and what skills are needed to be successful in the field. Developing connections and expanding my network has also been an extremely rewarding aspect of my internship. I have had the opportunity to meet accomplished individuals who have shared their experiences and given me advice to help advance my career.

The most challenging part has been overcoming the learning curve that comes with taking on a role in a brand-new environment. Initially, I felt unsure as to how I would apply my skillsets. The environment was unfamiliar, and I had surface-level knowledge of the concepts presented to me. However, as time went on, I began to find my niche within the workplace. I learned the value of asking questions and taking advantage of the resources available to me. I was encouraged to ask questions if I was unfamiliar with a concept and my mentors were happy to provide answers. Internships are learning experiences and interns are not expected to have all the answers. I am eager to continue learning and applying the knowledge I have learned down the road.

Simal Sami ’24
Information Technology

I have just sadly wrapped up my time at Good Grief on August 5^th. It has been such a rewarding experience for me. The most rewarding part was definitely facilitating support groups because I was able to be hands on with families participating in the Nights of Support programs and see the struggles of each age group. This was also important to me because this opportunity helped me narrow down what age groups I gravitated towards. I really enjoyed working with the middle school and high school groups which is what I predicted.

I consider myself very lucky because during my time at Good Grief, I didn’t face many challenges as far as data collection, gathering supplies for summer camp, researching organizations for community outreach database, or any other administrative work. However, one thing that was challenging for me was learning to not self-disclose when I was with the middle school and high school participants. As the facilitator, I had to let the participants control the conversation and make sure they are the center of the group. This group is not for me to participate in, but I am simply a guide. However, self-disclosing when we are talking about lighter topics was tempting for me. For example, one participant said they were thinking about going to the University of Scranton after senior year. Of course, I was extremely tempted to let her know that I go to Scranton and express how much I love it. I knew that it could derail the conversation and others wouldn’t be included in the conversation. Learning to not self-disclose definitely got easier as time when on, and I am glad I learned to control when to self-disclose. This skill will be extremely important for me as a future counselor!

Nicole Gomber ’23
Counseling and Human Services

My internship is nearly over as I am writing this blog post. By the time it is posted, I will be done with my internship with the Borgen Project. Because of this, I have a clear idea about what has been challenging throughout my internship with the Borgen Project and what I have found rewarding. The thing that I found most challenging during this internship has been the public relations portion of it. I am a marketing major and this internship is a PR/Marketing internship, so I am doing a bit of both. The reason that I find the PR aspect so difficult is because of the lack of control that I have over whether or not it succeeds. To put my point in more concrete terms, I was required as part of this internship to get four pieces of media that discuss the Borgen Project published by media outlets. This could include newspaper, social media influencers, or other media outlets that would draw attention. I got two published through personal connections, but I for a while struggled to get anything additional published. I sent letters to the editor to newspapers, and I had one letter posted in the Scranton Times and successfully completed the goal!

The most rewarding part of my internship has been seeing how willing people are to help out a good cause. In case you did not know, the Borgen Project is a nonprofit that advocates for the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger globally. It has been both eye opening and rewarding to see how willing people are to help the cause of eradicating global extreme poverty. In a similar way, it is rewarding that I am able to do my part in helping the cause while also being able to learn skills in marketing that I can use for a future career in the marketing field.

Michael Walton ’23
Marketing

It is hard to believe that my time at the Montgomery County Detective Bureau is already over. There were many rewarding aspects to this internship. This internship gave me so many opportunities to experience so many new things within the criminal justice system. My most favorite experience was definitely getting to shadow an autopsy. I almost passed out during it, but I still thought it was the coolest thing ever. It also helped me decide that I was definitely more suited for an analysis job. Another rewarding part of this internship was knowing how much of an impact my work was making on my community. I was assigned to work in the Detective Bureau’s Major Crimes unit to analyze data in an ongoing investigation for catalytic convertor theft. My job was to look through GPS tracking data and see if it lined up with addresses listed in police reports as well as noting other stand out addresses and reporting my findings to the detectives in that unit to be used in court. I was also able to work with some of the Detective Bureau’s Intelligence Analysts and check out the programs they use for their analysis. Being that this is my intended career path, I am extremely grateful that I was given the opportunity to learn about the different ways intelligence analysis is done, as well as putting everything I’ve learned at Scranton to use in a real-life case.

The most challenging part of this internship was the day-to-day schedule because this job is not like other jobs where you know exactly what you are going to be doing every day. There were some days where I had a million things to do and others where I would do the most minimal tasks just to feel like I had done something. This was difficult to face at first because I felt like I was not contributing or being lazy on the days where nothing was happening, but one of the lieutenants assured me that it was completely normal because crime does not run on a 9 to 5 schedule.

Clare Maguire ’23
Criminal Justice