For I know the plans…
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord
July 28th begins Internship season for the summer FaithWorks class. Students conduct research and interviews with area employees for the first five weeks of the semester as part of the process of identifying THE career or stop gap job they will pursue.
Using this information, local employers and nonprofits are contacted about hosting a FaithWorks student for a four week period – weeks 9–12 of our 13 week semester – or a total of sixty hours as an unpaid intern.
The internship is an integral part of the success of the student going to work in a job or career that will allow that student and his or her family to become financially independent. Our hope is that the internship will serve as a stepping stone into THE job. Occasionally the student will be offered a job at their internship site which is great news, but not actually the purpose of the internship.
The purpose of the internship is to give the student first-hand experience in the field that they ultimately hope to work. It adds four weeks’ experience in this field to their resume, and it places them in a location where they learn about job openings in their chosen field from professionals who work in those areas.
The diversity of the students at FaithWorks is one of my favorite things. The lives and the stories that we share are very precious to us – just like the men and women who have lived those stories.
We are still about two weeks away from internships so those locations have not all been identified, but here are the career directions that the members of the summer class have chosen: respiratory therapist, administrative assistant in a social service agency – ideally working with children, expectant moms or babies, church secretary, chef/pastry chef, file clerk in a law office, daycare worker, phlebotomist, physical therapist, skilled maintenance work, landscape design, interior design or house “staging”, bookkeeper, licensed chemical dependency counselor, graphic design, work in a police or fire department and work with drawings such as blueprints or landscape design.
There is always this variety in the interests and skills of our students. It’s exciting to think about how many areas of Abilene will be impacted by this group of students. Their servant hearts will make this a better place to live as they bless the lives of other people.
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”