Paying My University For My Internship

[jmn0730]

I am a Senior at a University in North Carolina. I am also interning for DC Pages. I landed this great opportunity to intern through my older cousin. I am very fortunate to have such an experience fall right into my hands. Trust me, I know how hard it is to land an internship that is in relation with your degree (or major) on your own. I myself had researched many and applyed to many as well. I received no feedback from any one of those companies. Due to the fact I am a senior left me scarce for time to find an internship. So, when my cousin called me and told me that he found me a place to intern, I was thrilled and very thankful.

 

The next step I took was telling my University advisor. She told me that I would be able to receive class credit if my internship qualified. She handed me a sheet to fill out and turn in to the person in charge of interns. I filled out the form, had my boss at DC Pages fill out his part, and then sent it in. Luckily, my University approved it and I was able to qualify for a course credit.

 

As thrilled as I was, my parents were even more excited to find that as an Out-of-State student I was receiving one free class. (you can only imagine how much tuition is today.) Little did we know, our luck was about to change.

 

 

A few weeks into my internship, my parents received a bill from my University. We were being charged around $2000 for my internship to count as credit toward my degree. When my mom told me about this, I was completely confused. I called my school to double check because in my mind it made no sense that I was to be paying to work for free (my internship is non-profit for me). Let alone the fact that my intership is 30 miles from my house (given gas prices, you can imagine), but my school didn't even HELP me find my internship. They had nothing to do with it but the fact I qualified for credit.

 

Now, you can picture how irritated my parents were. I felt horrible and questioned if the internship was worth it. I learned later that it was.

 

But how frustrating can this situation be. Not only do I have a full time job, I was taking 2 summer classes, and a free internship; oh, and paying for it. Thank goodness my parents are generous enough to pay the internship bill, or I would be working all summer just to pay to intern.

 

How big of a ripoff is this?!

Edited July 23, 2008 by Jessica Nicholson