This summer, a group of NC State College of Education students will give back to their communities through the College of Education Summer Internship Program, a competitive five-week program created in memory of Chantal Warfield, a May 2019 graduate who died in a car accident in October 2019.
When they do, they’ll rely on lessons learned through a new readiness program created by Outreach and Strategic Engagement Graduate Assistant Tiffany Flowers ’25MED, who is earning her master’s degree in higher education administration this spring.
Flowers relied on the lessons she learned as a K-12 teacher and the experience she has gained as a graduate student to create the seven-week program designed to equip students with skills and confidence they need to secure and succeed in their summer internships.
“Using my higher education background and everything that I learned during my master’s program let me put my programming experience to work,” Flowers said. “These are the things that we talk about in class … It’s using that knowledge to pass along and pay it forward to other students.”
Flowers began the readiness program by working with students to identify potential internships that aligned with their goals and values. While some common internship opportunities include working in public schools or at the YMCA and Boys and Girls Clubs, Flowers pushed them to think outside the box, too.
“That’s why we want to know your values and your why, because maybe we can put you in a site that really focuses on them, and it might be outside of the traditional sites that we go to,” Flowers said.
Once students identified the types of internships they’re interested in, Flowers then guided them through the application process.
“We make sure that everything’s up to date and everything matches — their cover letter, their resume and LinkedIn,” Flowers said. “It should all say the same thing about who this student is.”
After that, the students practice mock interviews, study how to solve problems in the workplace and prepare for potential networking opportunities that might arise while working in counties where they may one day hope to one day teach.
“They can start building their network now, building those connections with the people in their county now and start to cultivate those relationships,” Flowers said.
Once students complete their internships and return to campus in the fall, they’ll provide their final reflections on their experience.
By then, Flowers will have graduated with her master’s degree and will have started the process of earning her Ph.D. in the Educational Leadership, Policy and Human Development: Higher Education Opportunity, Equity, and Justice concentration, which she hopes to use to continue to support future K-12 educators.
“I want all students to have access to very similar opportunities and then prepare them for those opportunities,” Flowers said. “That’s a reason why I’m continuing on to get my Ph.D.— because I want to be able to research student experiences and see exactly what they need and tailor their educational experience to meet those needs.”