Luther junior Christine Wattermann interns at Find Your Power

Luther College junior Christine Wattermann spent the summer interning at Find Your Power, a non-profit company based in Minneapolis aimed at empowering women.

Wattermann, daughter of Lyle and Sally Wattermann of Savage, Minnesota, is a 2016 graduate of Prior Lake High School. She plans to graduate from Luther in 2019 with a major in sociology and a minor in history.

Interning in the area of development, Wattermann worked to establish an individual giving plan for Find Your Power, which works to empower women by “expanding internet access for underrepresented women worldwide to connect them with resources that further education, advocacy, community and employment.”

Interning at a small non-profit, Wattermann was able to learn more about all of the company’s departments and their duties.

“During my internship I learned a lot about the career field that I am interested in. At the beginning of the summer I thought I wanted to work with a non-profit but I did not know which area I wanted to work in,” Wattermann said. Working in the financial area of a non-profit helped her to narrow options for after graduation.

“Since a sociology degree can lead to a variety of options after graduation, it can sometimes be hard to determine a clear career path. Therefore, this internship was a way for me to put what I have learned in my sociology classes into practice and helped me understand how my major can translate into a feasible career,” Wattermann said.

Approximately 10 percent of Luther students take an internship for academic credit each academic year. The Luther College Career Center assists students with their internship search through resume preparation, networking, online internship searches, career fairs, on-campus interviewing and connecting the student to alumni through the college’s Alumni Internship Program. Students also meet with a faculty adviser prior to the internship to create an internship learning plan that includes learning goals and assessment benchmarks.

An internship work supervisor assists in the process by writing an evaluation of the student at the end of the internship. Students also complete a self-reflection form to help finalize the learning experience.

A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,005, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.