Exit Interview with Njogu Ndirangu

In the fall of 2021, Njogu Ndirangu was an intern in the Program Evaluation and Education Research (PEER) Internship Program for Undergraduate Students at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation. At the end of his internship, he completed an exit interview highlighting his experiences and takeaways from the program over the last two semesters in which he participated. See below for those responses.

Background 

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am majoring in political science in my second semester as an intern with the Friday Institute. I found the Friday Institute when looking at work-study positions, and I was very reluctant to apply at first. Two semesters in, I believe I made the correct decision to apply.

Why did you apply to the Program Evaluation and Education Research (PEER) Internship Program for Undergraduate Students?

What prompted me to apply was the education research that the Friday Institute performs. As a political science student I was interested in the way that the Friday Institute would collect information and data and then use the data to find solutions to the many problems that they find in the education field.

Goals

One goal of the internship is to expose interns to the environment and expectations of educational research and evaluation. What did you learn about the roles and responsibilities of educational research and evaluation?

Coming into this internship, I did not have much knowledge of what went into the educational research and evaluation process. But since then I have realized that there is a lot that goes into this process. It requires a multitude of people working together to achieve their stated goals, and everyone plays an active, equal role in achieving this goal. I also learned how wide the scope of educational research is, as well as how wide the problems/areas the Friday Institute set out to solve.  

To what extent did the internship increase your confidence in performing educational research and evaluation tasks?

My confidence in performing educational research and evaluation tasks increased after becoming an intern. I have done past research and evaluation tasks before I worked at the Friday Institute but never one centered around education. After completing my first literature review and learning new methods that would aid in my completion of it, I gradually became more confident.

Another goal of the internship is to develop interns’ transferable workforce skills. To what extent did the internship develop your soft skills? 

In our bi-weekly meetings, there were always opportunities to learn soft skills. I learned about inclusive leadership in the workplace, and although I didn’t get a chance to specifically utilize what I learned, it could be very helpful for the future. For other soft skills such as attention to detail and organization skills, I developed them gradually through the projects I completed. Attention to detail and organization became more important, as I wanted to put all my effort in the projects I received. And focusing on those two skills really helped.  

To what extent did the internship develop your technical skills? 

The bi-weekly meetings enable us to communicate with fellow interns as well as our supervisor, Dr. Callie Edwards. Communication was important because this internship was virtuaI. I did not get too much experience in data analysis, but there were certain projects that I performed data cleaning, which was helpful to learn. 

Benefits 

What was the most valuable part of this program for you professionally and personally?

Professionally, I believe the most valuable part of this program were the skills I learned. There were numerous skills I learned in my two semesters here which will be useful to utilize in future careers.

Personally, I believe the most valuable part was the environment I was working in. Working with the Friday Institute was a new environment to me, and there were many aspects of it that I had never experienced in past internships. 

What was one thing you learned that you will use/take with you to other internships/jobs?

The research and evaluation skills I learned from doing the literature reviews and the ways I learned how to better utilize the NC State library resources are both skills that I hope to take with me in the future. The career I want to go into is heavily dependent on research, so the skills I learned here will prove themselves to be useful.

Improvement 

How can the internship program be improved? 

There were times when I would be doing the same projects and that I noticed there were certain projects I haven’t done but others have. And I wish there could have been an opportunity to diversify the projects so there could be a chance for all the interns to test the waters with a project they haven’t done. 

Last Words

What would say to other students thinking about applying for the program? 

I would tell students that are thinking about applying to this program to apply. As long as they have an interest in education and are interested in the work that the Friday Institute is doing, then it will be a great experience. You will learn a variety of skills, there will be professional development opportunities and you will be around great people who want you to succeed.

Is there anything you would like to share that we haven’t already discussed? 

One thing I would like to discuss further is how friendly everyone at the Friday Institute is. They genuinely value the help you give them and they are dedicated to helping you grow and succeed. It made me wish I had the chance to work with all of them more.