After all, much of the experience on an athletic team or in a residence hall, social group, or campus activity is about leadership. We aspire to be much more deliberate about helping our students seize these opportunities. Leadership is often learned in an internship where a student has the chance to observe, work, and learn with an established leader. Attorney Julia Gutz 88, president-elect of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, developed a valuable relationship with a mentor during her internship at a Cedar Rapids bank and now works in the banking industry. He proposes that creative individuals learn their mastery of a field by working closely with an established master.
Students can work full-time individually or in teams on a leadership task.
Traditional semester-long internships are only for an hour or two a week, and students end up doing menial tasks. Our survey of 1998 graduates indicated that 38 percent had an internship at Cornell. We want that to be higher, and this year hired an internship coordinator to help students find and prepare for challenging internship experiences in the community. We now have an exciting opportunity to heighten our emphasis on leadership. This fall we established a Center for Leadership and Service to provide a focal point on campus for the support and nurturing of leadership skills.