Real, Relevant Experience
At Anna Maria, a college education is more than what happens in the classroom. You’ll find plenty of experiential learning opportunities available to help you put your knowledge to work and develop valuable life skills.
Internships can be invaluable learning experiences that let you test-drive possible careers.
Students in all majors complete internships, which most often are for-credit experiences during the academic year or over the summer.
Career Services maintains databases of available internships and will help you prepare through workshops on resume writing, the interview process and networking.
Internship Location Spotlight
The Washington Center Internship program is a profoundly exciting and enriching educational opportunity that has been described by virtually all of the alumni as “life-changing.” TWC program succeeds in combining professional experience in the field with academic learning, emphasis is placed on the former. As such, 12 or the 15 credits that you are awarded for the internship experience is devoted to full-time (4 days) work in the field of your choice. The remainder 3 credits are offered for an academic class, again, of your choosing. Often, an academic course is selected to satisfy one of the college’s academic requirements for graduation. There is flexibility on both the part of Anna Maria and TWC in terms of choosing both an internship and an academic class to suit the needs and desires of the individual applicants.
Program Requirements
The Washington Center Internship program (TWC) is available to all Anna Maria College students in their junior and senior years in the fall, spring and summer terms. Students should have a minimum G.P.A. of 2.75. If your G.P.A. falls short of that mark by a modest margin, you can still apply to the program. You will be asked to submit an additional letter of recommendation in that case. The standard number of letters of recommendation is two. In addition, students submit a one-page resume, a 100-word Statement of Professional Interest, a 500 word Issue Statement that often is a synopsis of a previously written essay or short research paper. These documents are developed and edited with the college’s TWC liaison, Brooke Brigham, who works with applicants on an individual basis to maximize students’ professional and educational opportunities.
Costs of the Program
Students who receive housing at AMC incur no cost to participate in the program. Commuter students are charged a housing fee but this can be covered by financial aid in part or in full.
Additional Benefits
Apart from the professional and academic experience provided by TWC, is the cultural, personal and social experience of living in a dynamic and exciting city (though D.C. is technically not a city). The housing provided by TWC is modern and fully equipped and it is centrally located. You will meet students not just from all over the U.S., but from all over the world as well. It is an experience and a place where lifelong friendships are forged.
Washington Center Alumni
Some of our Anna Maria alumni of TWC interned at the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, INTERPOL, the Metropolitan Police Department, the Secret Service, the U.S. Marshal Service, as a sample. Most of our interns secure employment in the field or, indeed, for the agency they interned with. Several AMC graduates who interned for the Department of Homeland Security, for instance, have secured career positions in various agencies within the Department. Accordingly, TWC internship experience offers students the opportunity to not just build their resumes, but to make vital contacts and forge a professional relationship that continues beyond the internship experience. Though most of our Washington Center alumni were interested in local, state and federal policing, again, the internship program is open to all majors.
Interested in the Washington Center Program?
For more information, please visit TWC website: twc.edu and contact Brooke Brigham at bbrigham@annamaria.edu.
