Career Exploration and Experiential Learning at SCU

The Office of Internships was created from the idea that a student’s academic experience is not limited to the classroom. It is rooted in people, connections, exploration, and opportunities to discover what matters—personally and professionally. Through these opportunities for exploration and discernment, students will create meaningful connections between their academic knowledge and professional aspirations.

Your academic experience is more than your intellectual education in the classroom. It is the constant learning and discovery of your passions, your interests, and your “why.” Finding your “why” is a journey. Spending time outside of the classroom, bringing the academic wisdom of your faculty, and the ideas of your fellow students into real work experiences allows you to continue to clarify your “why."

Throughout the experiential learning opportunities students engage in during their undergraduate career, faculty serve and support students through a myriad of roles—sharing knowledge and prompting critical thinking in the classroom, advising during office hours, and mentoring during internship experiences. Faculty are pivotal in a students’ discovery of their “why.”

As a Community Partner, you can support undergraduates’ discovery of their “why.” By providing opportunities within your organization to volunteer, shadow, or intern, you will be in a unique position to not only have a Santa Clara University College of Arts and Sciences student working with you, but also get to share what about your career still inspires your “why.”