Finding His Way

Feb 2021

Since fall 2019, President Kusch has asked that every student complete an internship to graduate. Requirements differ depending upon the major, and students are actually encouraged to participate in as many internships as they can. One student who took this recommendation to heart is Tyson Heywood, who recently finished his third internship. “I didn’t know exactly what it was that I wanted to do, but I knew I was good with technology,” says Heywood. “That’s why I jumped into internships. I did it to learn more.”

In some cases, students work with employers through projects and lectures directly in the classroom. These classes are taught by adjunct professionals who are employees in the workforce and understand the current skills students need to excel in their jobs. In other cases, the college works with employers to set up these opportunities, and in some cases that means supporting these students financially. Philanthropic funds are sometimes used to provide a stipend for living expenses to help students complete their internships.

Heywood soon knew his first internship wasn’t exactly what he wanted to do, but it helped him gain perspective. “I was working with the leaders of the company, doing a little coding and getting my feet wet a little bit in different things,” he says. Heywood used it as a way to find and understand what he wanted to do, and after his first internship, he completed two others. “They’ve gotten more and more specific each time and built upon each other to where I’m now doing things that I enjoy every day,” he says. “Here I am, soon finishing my business analytics certificate and transferring to a great computer science program.” Thanks to his valuable internship experiences, Heywood feels like he has a much better direction.