Campus Currents

Anne Majewski '98 had a secure job lined up following graduation, but when she was offered an internship at a world-renowned resort, the shy 20-year-old from Rindge, N.H., threw caution to the wind.

Anne Majewski '98

"This was an opportunity I couldn't pass by," says Majewski, who worked at the Balsams Grand Resort Hotel in Dixville Notch, N.H., last summer as the pilot of a new internship requirement for the Thompson School's restaurant management program. "Originally, I wasn't going to pursue hotel management. But this gave me insight into a whole new area. I was amazed how much goes into running a resort, how everything is interrelated. It also gave me a lot more confidence meeting people," she adds.

Anne Majewski '98 got hands-on resort experience by interning at the Balsams.

Indeed, Majewski's four-month stint at northern New Hampshire's most famous resort proved so successful that summer internships are now a requirement. About a dozen Thompson School students officially kicked off the program by beginning their internships in May.

"It's very important that students see what the real world is like," says David O'Brien, associate professor and program chairman. "We are a hands-on school. This is a hands-on way of learning."

O'Brien sees the summer internship as a win-win situation for all concerned. Students garner valuable, resume-building experience while simultaneously earning money and college credit. Faculty will be able to hone the curriculum as they acquire more understanding of what today's employers want in new hires. Employers gain a committed summer worker they might groom for a permanent position.

"She was a joy," says Balsams maitre d'hotel John White of Majewski. "I had her working hands-on in just about everything in my department. She did a really nice job." He adds that in the current booming economy, it's hard to keep good help for seasonal positions. Interns, he predicts, are there to learn and will last the duration.

Other restaurants and resorts seem to agree. To date, 21 businesses from the state and region have signed up to sponsor an intern.

Majewski, who now works at the Fiddlehead Cafe in Hancock, N.H., says, "Interning gave me the chance to do so many different things and a clear understanding of how the industry works—how everything depends on everything else."

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