Due to the closing of nonessential businesses brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, students’ internships have been affected.

A Baldwin Wallace student, who wishes to remain anonymous, said their internship opportunity, unfortunately, had to come to an early end.

“The full-time people worked from the home, but the internship program was suspended because they felt that interns can’t learn and gain hands-on experience unless it’s in-person,” said the BW student who wishes to remain anonymous.

Some students have been given the opportunity to intern from their own home, but it does come with some changes.

One of the notable differences between working at their internship versus working from home has been communication, according to some students interviewed.

“I think the main challenge is communication. Thankfully, we have a team meeting every morning and afternoon to make sure everyone is on the same page,” said another BW student who wishes to remain anonymous.

Katie Trifiletti, a student at BW also felt communication was one notable difference when it came to interning from home. “Communication is a lot different, since we really only connect through email, rather than speaking in person,” said Trifiletti.

Though it may be different, one student, Brandi Bernow, said that she is able to communicate in different ways now and is learning how to use project management sites like Asana.

With a majority of the communication being done digitally, there is a lack of face to face interactions.

“I miss working with other people face to face. It’s easier to show people what I am working on,” said Bernow.

Now that students are interning from home, two different facets of their lives are combining.

Katie Trifiletti said it can be stressful and difficult separating home life from work life.

“I try to focus on the fact that I won’t be working from home forever,” said Trifiletti.

Despite all the changes going on, Trifiletti said one positive she has experienced through interning from home is feeling like her coworkers consider her as part of the team. They have been adamant about sending her work and making sure that she was able to work from home.

“It has meant a lot to me that they’ve valued my work enough to speak with IT and be sure that I had remote privileges even as just an intern,” said Trifiletti.