I started school two weeks ago. I'm now a senior in high school, and I really just can't wait to be done. My school has been developing a special program for seniors who have the same feelings as me towards school. It's the "Senior's Choice Internship Program" and it means that for two periods a day (3 hours) I can go off-site to a internship. There really aren't any restrictions on the type of internship either, although almost everyone who has done the program has picked something with a social justice focus (I'm a development intern at a medium-sized non-profit that does impact litigation for people who have faced discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity/expression and/or HIV status.)
Along with the internship, there is also a mini-class once a week at my high school where I meet with my adviser. We talk about what is going on in general and at the internship, and she gives me new homework. I seriously love doing my homework for this class. Last week, I had to reflect on what excellence, ethics, and engagement mean to me and to my work, and this week I'm analyzing teaching strategies through the lens of the GoodWork Project. I even get to do a book review of The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Complex.
I love how I have been able to make all these connections between my activism and my schoolwork, and I love how the internship is really keeping me engaged with school, especially at a time when all I am focusing on is when I can disengage. I think that service-based learning is so relevant to creating critical thinkers and effective learners (indeed, I never thought so much about how to get funding and the politics of funding before now.) I am really appreciative that this opportunity is available to me, and I wish that more students in my school took advantage of it, and that more schools implemented internship programs as a way to keep students engaged and excited about learning.
