Ferris State University students gain valuable work experience through internships. Internships also can confirm or redirect career decision-making, provide marketability, develop people skills and enhance classroom learning. Many academic programs require one, but the experience is encouraged regardless to provide students with a better understanding of what will be expected of them in the workplace.
Many students are participating in myriad internships this summer. Meet:
Kara HatfieldKara Hatfield
She is: a fifth-year transfer student going into her sixth and final year here at Ferris studying Hospitality Management. Kara is from Otsego, Michigan.
Her Internship: Kara is interning this summer at Grand Lake Lodge in Grand Lake, Colorado. She is working the front desk and planning, organizing, and facilitating events at the lodge. Kara has a passion for snowboarding, so this internship was right up her alley. She She further states that occasionally she also teaches snowboarding lessons.
Future Plans: She plans to finish her bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management in Spring 2023 and hopefully receive a job in Florida working at an events center.
Kara’s Advice For Students Seeking Internships: Kara encourages students to “find something that makes you happy and apply to as many different internships as possible.” She adds, “Having many different options to choose from is beneficial in the ways that it allows you to find what style, location, etc. will work best for you.” Kara also encourages students to “not be afraid to go outside your comfort zone.” She noted her hesitancy in going out of state for an internship, but that it was the best decision she’s ever made.
Campus Involvement: Kara is involved in Real Life Ministries at Ferris, and she is active in the FSU Snow
Shredders Ski and Snowboarding Club.