Interns
The Rural Internship Initiative provides eligible Golden LEAF Scholars with professional work experience related to their career field in a rural North Carolina community.
The Golden LEAF Foundation provides funding to pay interns $15/hour for up to 400 hours of work. Internships take place over 8-10 weeks, between May and August.
Internship sites that take on a Golden LEAF Scholar Intern provide them with a meaningful project or role that aligns with the student’s college major and future career goals.
How it Works
Internship Components
The internship opportunity identified by a Golden LEAF Scholar must be aligned with the student’s course of study.
Internship sites include, but are not limited to:
- businesses
- non-profits
- governmental entities
- and/or companies
Internships must be completed in person at a site physically located in a qualifying county.
Interns are responsible for:
- contacting their prospective internship site
- discussing the internship opportunity with the site manager
- working with the site to discuss job responsibilities for the internship
Eligible Experiences
The internship opportunity identified by a Golden LEAF Scholar must be aligned with the student’s course of study. Course of study is defined as a declared major or intended major for first-year students that have not yet declared a major. For students without a declared major, additional information regarding courses taken or registered to take may be requested as confirmation of course of study information.
Eligible Sites
Internship sites include, but are not limited to, businesses, non-profits, governmental entities, and/or companies. Internships must be completed in person at a site physically located in a qualifying rural county. Internships may be completed at an entity with multiple locations including with locations outside of the eligible counties, provided the student completes the internship at a site located in an eligible county.
Helpful Materials
Golden LEAF Scholars are responsible for identifying a site to complete their internship. To support this process, Golden LEAF has compiled a list of sites that are interested in hosting an intern. This list is a resource. Golden LEAF Scholars may reach out to sites on this list or work with sites outside this list to secure an internship.
While the Rural Internship Initiative aims to provide its participating scholars with valuable work experience, there are guidelines for activities scholars may engage in within a healthcare setting. Please review this resource for a catalog of pre-approved healthcare job descriptions that you and your selected internship site will need to choose from.
Application Requirements
Applicants will be asked to submit:
- Contact information
- An unofficial transcript (to verify course of study information)
- Internship site information
- Three short essay questions in which the applicant describes how the proposed experience aligns with their course of study and supports their professional development.
Key
Dates
- Application Opens: December 2, 2024
- Early Application Deadline: January 22, 2025
- Regular Application Deadline: February 19, 2025
- Selection Window: February-March 2025
- Interns Announced: March 2025