Editor,
I applied for a prestigious, unpaid biology internship in San Diego. It is a 40-hour-a-week, 16-week commitment, including lectures, research and field trips. I thought it reasonable to get a jump on the process with the Biology Department to ensure I would get credit for it. Much to my dismay, I found that for a total of an entire semester's work, totaling 640 hours, I would receive only two hours of credit toward my degree in biology.
Under the instruction of one of my advisers, I then approached the Arts and Sciences Department to see if any further recourse could be done on my part to glean perhaps a few more credit hours. Their response was, "You're lucky you're getting anything at all. Arts and Sciences doesn't give credit for experiential work."
Am I mistaken in thinking our University should encourage students to participate in internships? We're told we need to be well-rounded students, yet the opportunities for us to be well-rounded are extremely limited. Two hours of credit is in no way enough to make up for the semester of school I would miss, and I would be forced to resign from my job. This internship is something I'm completely unwilling to give up, as the experience would be invaluable not only for my education but for my career in the future.
Is it too much to ask for UNM to give its students a break? We all work hard to accomplish our goals, and it seems that year after year, UNM is doing less and less to help students succeed. Perhaps some attention needs to be paid to extracurricular opportunities so every student at UNM can be the absolute best they can, succeed and make a name not only for themselves but for our University.
Leah Perlman
UNM student
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