High School Research Internships: Why and How
An internship is a period of time where you can work with some organization, company, or program, with focus on a specific topic of interest. During internships, you often get to deal with real-world scenarios in a professional environment or setting and you may even get to work with mentors and members of the company on real assignments and projects. Many organizations, programs, and companies are more than willing to accept high schoolers to work with them. During high school research internships, specifically, you may have the chance of working with mentors and professionals on a research project. Depending on the internship program, you could do research on almost any subject, such as math, computer science, and more!
Why Should You Participate in a High School Research Internship?
HIGH SCHOOL RESEARCH INTERNSHIPS ARE A GREAT WAY OF EXPLORING YOUR PASSIONS AND INTERESTS
If you find yourself feeling curious about a topic, such as computer science, conducting research may allow you to answer one of the questions or ideas that you are dying to understand! High school research Internships will allow you to dive into a detailed project involving one of your passions and will give you insight into whether or not you may want to continue learning about this topic in the future!
HIGH SCHOOL RESEARCH INTERNSHIPS ARE A GREAT WAY OF BUILDING COMMUNITY!
During high school research Internships, you will be working alongside many mentors and professionals in your field of interest. As a result, you will be building a community of people who have the same passions as you! By developing a relationship with these people, they could help you by giving you advice and guidance during the internship and future endeavors as well. Throughout your internship, you may meet other interns your age as well. Overall, building a community of people that you share something in common with can often be very inspiring, motivating, and very helpful!
HIGH SCHOOL RESEARCH INTERNSHIP WILL HELP YOU DEVELOP A LARGE VARIETY OF SKILLS!
For example, you will no doubt improve your research skills. Researching is often a long and complicated process that requires close attention, as well as precision, accuracy, and detail. In order to get the best results, you must truly understand what you are researching, or what question you are trying to answer. Researching can often depend on strategically searching up the right things or finding the right sources. Participating in a high school research internship may help you improve in these aspects by consistently practicing and correcting your mistakes. By the end of a research internship, you may be able to craft a better research question, and find the right sources more efficiently.
You may also improve your creativity skills during a high school research internship. Occasionally, you may be able to choose your own projects during a research internship. As a result, you will have to generate an interesting and thought-provoking research topic and will have to think of a way to conduct the project or experiment as well. Therefore, by pushing you to think more deeply of a project you may want to do, a research internship could help you come up with more creative and innovative ideas more efficiently.
Finally, a high school research internship will help you improve your teamwork and communication skills. Research internships are often very large, long-term projects, where you will rarely be working alone. You will have to work with people you may not have met before to reach a common goal. Therefore, you must learn how to make conversation to feel comfortable with talking and working with people you have not met before. You will also have to regularly reach out to them when working on a project and make sure everyone is on the same way. This will help the project be more organized. You may also come across moments when two people in a group are disagreeing and you will have to compromise the separate ideas or opinions for the project to go smoothly. Overall, you will learn a lot about teamwork and communication through high school research internships.
PARTICIPATING IN A HIGH SCHOOL RESEARCH INTERNSHIP IS A GREAT WAY OF DEMONSTRATING YOUR PASSION AND KNOWLEDGE
If you feel very passionate about a certain topic or subject, such as computer science, and would want to consider pursuing a career in that specific field, you may be wondering how you can demonstrate that passion and interest to companies and colleges. Not only are internships a great way of exploring your interests, but participating in long-term projects through internships shows colleges and other programs that you are curious, committed to learning, and that you are also interested in developing your social and communication skills through work experience. Therefore, I highly recommend participating in a high school research internship!
Process in finding and applying to a high school research internship:
FINDING AN HIGH SCHOOL RESEARCH INTERNSHIP
A simple search for “High School Research Internships” on Google can often be more than enough when trying to find an internship! When searching online, you may want to consider the location of the internships and see if they are close to your area or not. Also, you should look at the dates offered by the internship as well and make sure to sign up for the times when you are sure you can participate, such as during summer breaks. You could also ask local companies and businesses in your area if they offer intern positions to high school students. When searching for internships, make sure to read the description and see what the internship would entail so you can make sure that it aligns with your passions or something you are curious about.
APPLYING TO THE HIGH SCHOOL RESEARCH INTERNSHIP
Once you have found the internship you are interested in, look on their websites or platforms for applications. They may ask you questions such as “why do you want this internship?” or “what can you contribute to a team or group environment?” They may also ask you about your past experience in the topic of the research internship. You may also have to send in your high school transcripts or recommendation letters. When working on applications, just remember to show your passions and genuine interest for the topic of the research internship! You must also make sure you know the deadlines for the application so you do not miss the due date!
Finally, make sure to apply to multiple internships. You may not always get the first opportunity you apply to, and that’s okay! Do not give up and apply to another program! I hope this blog convinces you that there are many benefits in pursuing a high school research internship. If you do choose to apply to an internship, I hope this blog post helps guide you when starting to find and apply to these internships. I believe high school research internships are a great experience and wish you good luck in finding one!
About Inspirit AI
AI Scholars Live Online is a 10 session (25-hour) program that exposes high school students to fundamental AI concepts and guides them to build a socially impactful project. Taught by our team of graduate students from Stanford, MIT, and more, students receive a personalized learning experience in small groups with a student-teacher ratio of 5:1.
