Internships and Opportunities
Hands-on, practical experience is critical component of your studies in physics and engineering at Elizabethtown College. You will gain plenty of real-world, roll-your-sleeves-up kind of experience in the classroom, but we also encourage you to participate in outside learning opportunities.
Our department, in conjunction with Career Services, works to provide three programs in which you can take part: externships, internships and co-ops.
Externships
Externships allow first and second year students to observe in a real workforce environment for a week period of time. Sometimes, you may even serve as an assistant on a project, with an assigned task. Externships allow students to get a first glimpse of career options.
Internships
Internships allow upper class students to gain work experience during a semester by completing tasks under the supervision of a company mentor. Some of our students end up employed by the very firm where they did their internships!
Co-op Program
A co-op experience is for students willing to complete their major within five years. This extra year allows for alternating semesters between classes and working for a company, allowing the student to graduate with one full year of engineering experience. The co-op experience allows the student to take on larger, longer-term projects.
Sites for externships, internships and co-ops include: PA Department of Transportation, Hershey Foods, Kellogg's, Phoenix-Contact, JLG, Boeing, Armstrong World Industries and other world-class companies.
Other Experiential Learning Opportunities
Student-Teaching and Peer tutoring
For physics education majors, there are plenty of opportunities to gain practical teaching experience by tutoring classmates or working as departmental teaching assistants. And, to fulfill the department of education requirements, secondary physics education majors will also student teach.
Study Abroad
Physics and engineering majors have challenging courses in a defined sequence. This does not mean, however, that spending a semester abroad isn't a possibility. We've partnered with BCA Study Abroad to offer four specific programs that fit into the four-year plan for all of our major programs:
New Zealand – Spend the fall semester (July through November) of your junior year studying at University of Otago in New Zealand – the country's oldest and most prestigious university.
Ireland – Spend the fall semester of your junior year in Elizabethtown, Pa.'s sister city: Letterkenny, Ireland! You'll study at the Letterkenny Institute of Technology.
Gambia – Spend a semester at the University of the Gambia working on renewable energy projects - learn AND serve out our College's mission. This program, designed for physics and engineering majors, allows you to experience life in a developing country.
Ecuador – This study abroad program in Quito, Ecuador, is a language intensive program, requiring Spanish classes prior to jetting off. This program is available the spring semester of your sophomore year.
