Our student employees, interns, and Empire State Service Corps members are making meaningful contributions while gaining valuable hands-on experience that supports their academic and career journeys. Through their work, they are building professional skills, exploring career pathways, and making an impact across the SUNY Empire community and beyond. We are proud to highlight the experiences and accomplishments of these students as they grow both personally and professionally. Their stories showcase the power of experiential learning and the important role these opportunities play in shaping future careers.
Meet Nicole Jimenez Guaba. Nicole is majoring in Criminal Justice. She had the opportunity to work as an intern for New Hour in Long Island during the spring semester. The experience has led her to continued work with the organization; beginning in the fall, she will be working as a member of the Empire State Service Corps in the social justice cohort.
What is your major?
My major is Criminal Justice at SUNY Empire State University.
What are your career goals?
My goal is to work with women and people who have been impacted by the criminal justice system. Before my internship, I knew I wanted to help people, but I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do. After my experience at New Hour, I became more interested in social work and reentry. In the future, I plan to pursue a master’s in social work, while continuing to work with incarcerated individuals.
Describe your student worker experience.
During my internship at New Hour for Women and Children, I worked with programs that support justice-impacted women. I had the opportunity to visit both the Riverhead and Yaphank facilities. I helped with different programs, workshops, events, resources, and client engagement.
One experience that shaped my experience was attending the Art and Wellness program at the Riverhead facility. The women at Riverhead used painting as a way to talk about difficult experiences that had negatively affected their lives, using it as an outlet. I also helped with other programs such as, Emerge Financial Wellness and learned more about the different resources available to women.
What did you learn?
I learned that there is more to a person than their involvement with the criminal justice system. I saw some of the challenges these women faced and how important it is to have support and resources available to them. I also learned how different organizations such as Island Harvest work together to help people in need, and how important community is in the journey to rehabilitation.
What is a takeaway from this experience that you think will help you in your career path?
My biggest takeaway is that my internship helped me figure out what I want to do after college. I knew I wanted to help people, but I was not sure what that would look like before working with New Hour. New Hour gave me the opportunity to work with women, learn about reentry, and see how important rehabilitation and support are.
This experience made me more interested in social work and showed me how valuable internships are. You can learn more about yourself, gain experience, and figure out what you actually want to do in your future career. I would recommend every student complete an internship before graduating. You never know how it may impact your future goals!
