MC students gain workplace experience through local internship program
Sept. 21, 2021
While Maryville College students have the option to complete a summer internship anywhere, internships close to Maryville appeal to many students. Luckily, the College’s proximity to popular destinations like Sevierville, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Knoxville, Tenn., provide ample opportunities for students to gain workplace experience nearby.
The MC Career center has facilitated relationships with many local businesses and organizations to ensure internship opportunities are readily available to MC students. One such relationship is with the Southern Hospitality Internship Program (SHIP), which offers hospitality and tourism internships within neighboring Sevier County.
Sarah Taylor Yeaple ’08, director of the Maryville College Career Center, said the College has been building a relationship with SHIP since 2019. SHIP was an ideal partner for MC because of its location and wide variety of internship opportunities.
“SHIP is an amazing opportunity for our students to get access to many different professional paths in hospitality and beyond,” Yeaple said. “Given that Maryville College is right at the foot of the Smoky Mountains, SHIP is an ideal relationship to leverage our location to create meaningful opportunities for MC Scots and leverage the skills of our students to support our local partner organizations and their staffing needs.”
Last summer, two Maryville College students, Laura Palmer ‘21 and Bethany Anderson ‘22, interned with SHIP.
Palmer, a history major, interned with the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., as an admissions crew member. The experience was beneficial to Palmer in more ways than one. For one, she was offered a job at the museum when her internship ended.
Additionally, her internship helped inspire a Senior Study topic she’s truly excited about: the Titanic. Palmer said she’s even hoping to interview the museum’s owners, who organized the second expedition to the Titanic, for the study. One of the distinctive features of a Maryville education, the Senior Study requirement calls for students to complete a two-semester research and writing project that is guided by a faculty supervisor.
Palmer expressed that she was impressed with the overall SHIP experience, pointing to the fair pay, housing assistance, networking opportunities and thorough training as reasons.
“I loved SHIP and could talk about how great of an idea this program is all day,” said Palmer. “There’s such a wide variety of interesting and exciting internships available in such a wonderful area. The program is run by people who not only care about Sevier County but also genuinely care about the interns and make sure that they are all treated well.”
Anderson is studying human resource management and gained valuable experience in her field as a human resources assistant at Wilderness at the Smokies and Soaky Mountain Waterpark in Sevierville, Tenn. The internship was Anderson’s first time working a full-time professional job, and the experience helped her feel at ease in the workplace.
“I’d never had a professional job before this internship, so now I feel comfortable in a professional atmosphere,” Anderson said. “It also feels comforting knowing that I can put it on my resume to show that I have experience working in a multi-million resort.”
Maryville College emphasizes the importance of internships because of the relevant experience they supply students with before entering the job market. Yeaple references the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) to highlight that college graduates with an internship on their resume are more likely to be hired and receive a higher rate of pay than those without.
“Internships are an integral part of the undergraduate educational experience, and they ensure our students are competitive in the job market and for graduate programs after Maryville College,” Yeaple said. “Internships offer students the opportunity to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world, live-time situations. Internships also provide a learning opportunity for students to ‘test drive’ a career they are interested in to gauge fit and learn valuable skills for their industry.”
However, the benefits of internships go both ways. Emily Whaley, assistant director with the Sevier County Economic Development Council, points out how interns are also valuable assets within their communities.
“Interns are outstanding employees who possess the skills to be great contributors from day one,” Whaley said. “They are typically eager to learn and seek responsibility, and they provide employers with much-needed help that is extremely hard to find today. Additionally, they can become candidates for full-time jobs upon graduation.”
While Palmer and Anderson were the first MC students to intern with SHIP, their positive experiences indicate a promising relationship between Maryville College and SHIP and offer reassurance to students considering the program in the future.
