Marcus Hamilton, of Ocean Springs, is taking advantage of one of the great things Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College students have available to them – the Cooperative Education work experience.

Thanks to his Marketing Management instructor, Katie Held, and the Cooperative Education program at the college, Hamilton is now completing a semester internship at the Ocean Springs Chamber of Commerce – Main Street – Tourism Bureau. While there, he is gaining real-world experience in his chosen major and getting paid to do it.

“This is an incredible opportunity for Marcus and is something all of our students at MGCCC have available to them,” Held said. “Students actually have a choice with Cooperative Education – the alternating plan, in which they work full time one semester and attend school full time the next, or the parallel plan, like Marcus is doing, where they attend school and work at least 15 hours a week.”

Hamilton, a sophomore business marketing management major, said the internship, which he began in August, has taught him important things about his chosen major. “In a short time, I have met so many people, including government officials and business owners; been behind the scenes at WLOX; was in the newspaper; and met Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, who congratulated me on my internship. I also worked the Peter Anderson Arts and Crafts Festival a couple of weeks ago and met so many people and gained invaluable experience there.”

Held said that numerous internships are available to students and that the experience does pay off. She mentioned two former interns who were hired by the Ocean Springs Chamber after they graduated. “Not only do these internships offer our students career-related experience, they also allow their supervisors to see what kind of workers the interns are. This often leads to job offers later.”

She added that the internships are an integral part of the students’ education. “They are designed to integrate classroom study with planned and supervised on-the-job experience outside the classroom environment,” she said. “The interns must work with their internship supervisors to set goals and implement work responsibilities that meet those goals each week. MGCCC instructors have oversight of the internship to ensure a comprehensive training experience.”

Cynthia Dobbs Sutton, Events and Public Relations manager at the Ocean Springs Chamber, agrees that the internship program gives students crucial experience that they do not get in class. “I often tell my interns that when I was going through my undergraduate communication degree program or during my master’s program, I was required to give presentations for advertising or events marketing, and I only knew what I learned in class to execute my speech. I never knew about having to contact the portable restroom company or hiring security to direct traffic from my classes. This way, students get hands-on experience with what all goes into creating an event, creating an ad, or talking to a freelance writer to get major coverage of your event or product.”

MGCCC’s Cooperative Education programs are managed through the dean of Career, Technical, Workforce & Community Education at each campus. For more information, current or prospective students may contact speak to an MGCCC counselor, speak to a Student Support representative at (228) 896-2536 or email questions@mgccc.edu.

 

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