Sonam Kapoor

Getting Beyond the Theories: My Internship with Nassau BOCES

What began last fall as a half-year internship working with children with special learning needs at Nassau BOCES (board of cooperative educational services) has grown into a yearlong experience for me. Rather than leaving in December 2013, I signed a one-year contract with BOCES as a psychology intern. I love working with the children, and it brings me joy to see that I am having a positive influence on their lives.

As a psychology intern, I facilitate counseling for children with special learning needs and create and execute lessons to teach basic cognitive and behavioral skills. I also observe and collect data based on the children’s behavior and performance in class.

I have learned different intervention techniques for helping children cope with social anxiety, and, most importantly, I have gained clinical knowledge and experience in counseling young children.

The internship has brought light to a whole new area of knowledge and has helped me crystalize my career goals. I am able to take the theories I learned from my other classes and apply them to real situations, and I’ve confirmed that I want to be a clinical child psychologist.