TEEN SCENE
Welcome to Teen Scene. Each month our young
authors write, in their own voice, stories that will
educate and inform fellow students and parents. If
you are a teen who would like to write your story,
contact The Journal. We’ll help you polish it up, so
don’t worry, let’s get to sharing.
This month’s author is Middletown’s
18-year-old Christopher Drew. Christopher just
graduated from Christian Brothers Academy and
describes himself as a future engineer. He is
pretty certain that this is his career path, thanks
to his participation in internship programs.
Christopher tried several occupations to help
him determine what he liked and, more
importantly, what he didn’t like to do in a
future career. He is a strong advocate for
internship programs that offer meaningful
experiences for students. He is also an equally
strong advocate for students learning languages
and more about cultures around the world. It helped
Christopher tremendously and can help other students
too. Here is Christopher’s story.
Just four years ago, I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do with my
life after high school. I knew I liked applied math, but I wasn’t sure
If only there was a way for high school students to do a trial run of
a career to see how they like it. As it turns out, internships were created
for this very purpose. In the United States, internships for high school
students aren’t really readily available in a variety of professions. This is
not the case in other countries. For instance, in Germany, ninth and 10th
grade students are mandated to take two weeks off from school to do an
-
fer meaningful, hands-on experiences for students, giving them a much
situation for all involved because students get a better idea of what they
want to do, and companies get to see potential future employees who are
actually interested in the work of the company.
Why do I know so much about what goes on in Germany? Well, I have
been speaking German longer than I’ve spoken English, as my mother
immigrated to the United States from Germany. I also bolstered my knowledge
of the German language and culture by attending weekly meetings
at the German Language School in Holmdel. I met kids from all kinds of
backgrounds. Some were from other families who spoke German, and
and the connections I developed with friends in Germany, I was able to
complete an internship as a rising junior and as a rising senior.
36 OCTOBER 2020 | TheJournalNJ.com
By Lori Draz and Elina Patel
I spent two weeks working at a branch of
Deutsche Bank in the Frankfurt metropolitan
area. Overall, the experience was quite
not the career I want to pursue, the internship
allowed me to better understand the
world we live in. Deutsche Bank is well-accustomed
to hosting high school interns;
therefore, they already knew which tasks
could be entrusted to an intern. Learning how
banks operate in greater detail was totally
worth the two weeks I spent there.
By the time I was looking around for my
second internship, I had a better idea of what I
wanted to do. I like to tinker and work with my
hands, so I managed to get myself an internship
in a maintenance facility for DB Cargo, the German
national rail company’s cargo division. This
internship was much more aligned with my interests than the bank, yet I
enjoyed the second internship less. The facility was not as accustomed to
having short-time interns, and for liability reasons, I wasn’t able to do as
much as I would have liked. Still, the experience was valuable.
My internships helped me determine that I would like to pursue a
Germany, and after quarantining for two weeks, I began my university
education at the Technical University of Darmstadt located in the Frankfurt
metropolitan area. Studying in Germany from outside is not easy,
but it is also not just for German citizens. I am able to study in Germany
because of my knowledge of the German language which was expanded
and reinforced from classes at the German Language School.
I didn’t realize that this weekly program would change my life, but
I am so glad I put in those extra hours on Thursdays. That time has paid
off is so many ways. I can easily communicate with family, plus it helped
I highly encourage any readers who are younger than me to take
other languages seriously. The world is a big place, and the more languages
you speak, the better connected you are. I also highly recommend
that students who are struggling and don’t have a clue what they
want to do with their lives should look for internships and try as many as
want to do is almost as valuable as knowing what you want to do.
I would also like to suggest that more businesses of all kinds create
solid internship programs that welcome high school students to learn
more about careers. Not only is it a both a generous investment into the fu-
Finally, I encourage everyone to learn about your culture and the
many other cultures around the world. Being able to converse and to appreciate
people of all kinds will make your life richer and more interesting.
/TheJournalNJ.com