High school can be about more than just classes: it’s a time to discover what excites you, what you’re passionate about, and what work outside of the classroom looks like. One of the best ways to do this is through summer internships and volunteering in your community. These experiences offer much more than a line in your college application–they can help you explore issues and topics you care about, build character, and gain real-world insights. In this post, we’ll look at the benefits of internships and community volunteering and how they impacted my journey from high school through college and beyond.
Internships: Hands-On Career Exploration
Internships offer an important glimpse into real-life work and research. While it’s great to enjoy a class in high school, it can be challenging to transfer your academic interest into a college major or a career beyond. In fact, studies estimate that 20-50% of students enter college undecided on a major, and nearly 75% end up changing their major at least once1. This is where high school internships can make a big difference in your academic life–they can help confirm or rule out certain fields before you even get to college, potentially saving you time and tuition in the long run.
In high school, I enjoyed learning about chemistry. It was exciting to connect phenomena I could see with my own eyes – like a rainbow sheen from spilled gasoline or the color of the sky – with their molecular origin. However, despite my initial curiosity, I had no idea what a career in research sciences would look like. Fortunately, a summer internship was able to change that. I spent the summer of my junior year at a local university working full-time in a plant biology lab with a PhD student. It was rewarding to see the scientific process in real-life, and invaluable to experience how professionals applied the same fundamentals I learned in high school to help solve groundbreaking problems.
If you’re interested in a summer internship, there are many ways to find one. You can begin by asking teachers or school administrators to see if they know of any opportunities that students have taken advantage of in the past. Additionally, you can ask family members, reach out to your friends’ parents and other adults in your network, contact the companies you are interested in directly, or discover summer internship opportunities through online searches.
Volunteering: Gaining Experience
Summer internships are not the only way to explore your interests outside of the classroom. During the school year, volunteering offers an opportunity to gain hands-on experience, build stronger connections between you and your community, and allows you to gain leadership experience.
In high school, I began participating in my school’s beach cleanups. Upon seeing the value these cleanups added to the community and local environment, I decided to work with the organizers to grow it from a once yearly event to a monthly event across the city. Not only was it rewarding to give back to my community and to see the tangible impact I could have as a high school student, but I also gained experience in organizing and mobilizing the community to grow a movement that I cared about. This volunteer experience also helped me understand the challenging work needed to start and finish a real-world project. Through college and grad school, I owe my logistical and networking skills to my time as a volunteer organizer.
Do you want to get involved in causes that matter to you, but aren’t sure how? Odds are people in your school are volunteering. In one survey, 39% of 12th-grade students reported volunteering at least once per month.2 With so many students getting involved, look for a club or afterschool group that aligns with your interests. Even if you’re unsure which volunteering opportunities you gravitate towards, give different experiences a shot–you never know the interesting and diverse people you will meet, the unique situations you’ll encounter, the empathy and cultural awareness you’ll gain, or how much you’ll end up enjoying different activities. The benefits to volunteering don’t end there. Working on a team teaches you accountability and responsibility. Through a volunteer organization, you may find yourself planning a fundraiser, coordinating a supply drive, or leading younger volunteers, all of which will bolster your organizational and leadership skills.
Find your passion
Ultimately, high school is the perfect time to try new things out—not just to prepare for college, but to start shaping the person you want to become. The experiences you gain through internships and volunteer opportunities make abstract ideas like “healthcare,” “engineering,” or “community service” real and concrete. You get to do the work, not just read about it. These experiences help you build confidence, discover your motivations, and develop skills that will serve you well in college and beyond. So, take that first step: explore, get involved, and see where your interests take you.
Sources
(1) Beginning College Students Who Change Their Majors Within 3 Years of Enrollment. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018434/index.asp?utm_source=chatgpt.com (accessed 2025-05-09).
(2) Planty, M.; Regnier, M. Volunteer Service by Young People From High School Through Early Adulthood, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1037/e609922011-019.