AIKCU Interns pose during their orientation luncheon at the AIKCU office.
L-R: Jana Habarek (Lindsey Wilson); Crystal Bishop (Lindsey Wilson); Amanda Mullen (Midway); Erin Owen (Asbury); Kayla Blanton (Pikeville)

Forget what you might have seen on MTV. Five independent college students got a taste of the “real world” this spring while interning in state government through AIKCU’s Frankfort Semester Internship Program.

Four of the five AIKCU interns will graduate this weekend. One intern, Erin Owen of Asbury College, has already parlayed her intern experience into a full-time position in the Governor’s office (see related story). All of them agree that this experience opened up a world of possibilities for the future.

Jana Habarek explains that the practical experience she gained while interning with the Kentucky Historical Society and the exposure to a variety of people have given her confidence in her ability to face the future. She notes that prior to her internship she “felt that there was nowhere to go in Kentucky to get a job with a bachelor’s degree in History and Social Science. The AIKCU internship showed me the endless opportunities and directions I can go in with my education from a small school like Lindsey Wilson College.”

A key aspect of the AIKCU internships is the full-time nature of the program and immersion in a real state government working environment. Interns are treated as valued employees with real responsibilities. This is both challenging and invigorating for the participants.

Kayla Blanton of Pikeville College, the only non-senior among the five interns, worked in the Department of Parks where she wrote press releases and conducted market research, among other tasks.

Blanton notes that the experience challenged her as both a writer and a person. “This internship has given me the opportunity to sharpen my communication skills as well as invaluable experience that I would have never learned in a classroom,” she said. “I now have a much better understanding of the career path I want to take and the person I want to be.”

Life as an intern in the Secretary of State’s office was never dull for Crystal Bishop, a Lindsey Wilson College biology major. The days leading up to late-January’s candidate filing deadline for state primaries was particularly exciting.

“It was crazy when everyone was filing to run for state office,” said Bishop. “I had photographers jumping on my desk, candidates coming in at the very last second, you name it, it happened.”

Bishop also contends that the internship experience provided educational and professional opportunities that she would never have access to on campus. “I had the opportunity to meet every potential governor and many other influential state government officials,” she notes. “Secretary Grayson and his staff have made me feel right at home. I feel like a part of the team, not just an intern.”

For Midway College’s Amanda Mullen, who interned for the Council on Postsecondary Education, the internship “presented me with the opportunity to build lasting friendships and make valuable connections in the professional world.” Like her colleagues in the program, Mullen gives the AIKCU internship program a ringing endorsement. She writes, “I would highly recommend the AIKCU internship to other students.”

Asbury College’s Erin Owen, who went straight from her internship to her new role as assistant to the director of Gov. Fletcher’s Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives, said that her AIKCU internship “truly changed my life.” She had no experience in state government or administration and public policy prior to beginning her AIKCU internship in January. The help, advice and camaraderie from other Fletcher staff members, she said, have led her to consider a career in some aspect of public service. “That is (also) life changing for someone who would not have thought twice about such an undertaking in the past,” Owen said.

The AIKCU internships are sponsored during the spring semester of each year and are open to applicants from Kentucky’s 20 independent colleges and universities who are juniors, seniors or graduate students. Students work 30 hours weekly and complete two academic seminars while in Frankfort. During even-numbered years interns work with members of Kentucky’s legislature. In alternate years they spend their semester working in state government executive agencies. The primary purpose of the program, held each spring semester since 2000, is to expose outstanding students to public service and state government as a potential career choice.

Click “more” to see more photos of the interns

Crystal Bishop with Secretary of State Grayson

Kayla Blanton with Dept. of Parks Commissioner J.T. Miller

State Auditor Crit Luallen speaks to intern class