The Mercury Association Hosts Annual Internship Brunch After Four Year Hiatus
Revived by students, the Mercury Association is back in business
February 17, 2023
For 35 consecutive years, the Mercury Association organized an Internship Brunch or dinner, but COVID-19 caused the club to disband. Four years later, they revived their tradition with a Valentine’s Day brunch.
“It’s been a journey,” said Linda Kurz, the internship coordinator and Mercury Association advisor. “We really had to reapply as a student organization.”
This event was conducted as part of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences to connect communication students with internship opportunities in a more intimate way.
Students could meet with 11 local businesses, each with unique openings. The personal networking opportunity allowed students to sit one-on-one with recruiters and ask questions they might not get answered otherwise.
Kurze said these interactions are so important to securing internships that the Mercury Association decided to not have a speaker. This allowed students more time to speak with businesses while the event ran from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
“I’m graduating in May, so I’m really interested in what’s out there and all of the options,” said political science senior, Sagi Rudnick.
Despite being put on by the communications department, this event was not limited to the major. Each company was open to discussing any potential job they had and the realm of possibilities for students.
“I feel like the communications department has set a great example of what an internship event should look like,” Rudnick said. “I think it would be great for other academic departments to be inspired by this.”
“Events like these are important because not everyone has this opportunity,” said communication senior Paige Fleming. “You have to step out of your comfort zone to make sure you get the opportunity.”
Rudnick and Fleming both agreed that events like these should be promoted more by UMKC.
“There are a lot of emails sent out by the Chancellor,” Rudnick said. “I feel like this would definitely be an easy thing to include.”
While the Internship Brunch has passed, keep an eye out for future Mercury Association events around campus, and check out the annual Internship Brunch next year.
