At the Columbia College Grossnickle Career Services Center, students have constant support as they explore their academic interests and possible career paths after graduating from the college. In March, Amanda Wooden was named the new director of CC Career Services.
Across all departments at Columbia College, students play a pivotal role in the daily operations alongside full-time staff. The Grossnickle Career Services Center is no different, as several students have made a major impact every day.
Throughout the 2022-23 school year, CC Connected will feature some of the student interns who have helped provide support for their peers as they transition from college to the workplace.
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Grossnickle Career Services Center Student Intern Sam Slaid.
Hi all! My name is Sam Slaid. I’m a senior at Columbia College, majoring in Human Services with a minor in sociology. I grew up in O’ Fallon, Missouri, but now live in Columbia for school. To me, seeing the first-hand impact that you have on people in this field is what I find gratifying and helping people in this way is what I’m passionate about in Human Services.
I did my internship at Voluntary Action Center (VAC), a non-profit agency that serves low-income families and individuals in Columbia and Boone County. My internship was a little different than normal, as instead of interning like most students would, I was given a project to complete in the eight-week span of my internship. My project was to update and reformat VAC’s Information and Referral sheet. The sheet hadn’t been updated for about two years, so it was my job to research and update all the organizations and agencies on the list, so that when VAC (or any other agency using this resource sheet) refers a client to a different agency, they know where to go and who to call.
Overall, this internship project entailed a lot of research and organization work, which is why it’s different than a normal internship. However, I still got to observe and experience the day-to-day work lives of the VAC staff, so I’m very happy with my experience and I’m glad to have been a part of such an important project.
My future goals are to experience working at a non-profit agency and also experience a different population to work with, possibly refugees and immigrants, as that is something that interests me.
The best part of my internship was getting to participate in the community through volunteer work, as I’m now much more aware of the opportunities in the community to get involved and help.
My greatest challenge at VAC was definitely my project. Updating their information and referral sheet was unlike any other research project I’ve done. It took a lot of time and a lot of constructive criticism and feedback to progress towards the final product. However, I’m very happy I got to do this project because it benefitted me in the long run. I now know so much more about agencies in Columbia and Boone County (and social services in general) than I did before.
For any students thinking about doing an internship, I’d highly recommend it because it’s an amazing way to get an introduction and a deeper look into the field you’re interested in. You come to realize what jobs you might be interested in and which ones you would not want to do. Lastly, doing an internship definitely has the potential to open up more opportunities for you, whether that’s through work or volunteering. It will help you gain even more experience and knowledge in your future career.
