Every summer, Coral Gables Senior High School students look to find more and more ways to gain experience in order to bolster themselves and their personal resumes. While taking classes such as Dual Enrollment classes and Advanced Placement courses is a great place to start, internships primarily offer students real-world work experience in order to prepare them for life after high school.

These internships offer not only the ability for students to discover their true passion, but they can also be highly innovative and experimental, leading students to nurture a spark they may have not known they had. Whether the student found an opportunity in a career path they were fascinated in or dived in head first, not having a clue of what was to come, these students at Gables certainly made the most of their experience.

Senior Gabriella Molina

Gabriella Molina is a Senior in the Academy of Finance who is heavily invested in her academics. This past summer, she interned at BankUnited under Future Bankers Camp. During her time there, she was able to experience first-hand the nature and complexity of where banking can take you.

At Bank United, Molina and other interns were given several training scenarios regarding fraud, diversity in the workplace and research responsibilities in order to get a feel for the situations she might face in a bank besides finances.

Molina was also given the opportunity to meet with top executives of the company and learned how for most of them, their place in the field of finance came about by chance. The majority of the professionals were originally interested and involved in biology, communications, engineering and other subjects. This highlighted the significance of the internship’s role in allowing Molina to explore potential career paths.

Senior Ashley Liriano

Growing up, AOF senior Ashley Liriano has always had a passion for animals and their well-being. Thus, it is no surprise that when the opportunity arose to intern at the Coral Gables Animal Hospital during the summer, she jumped at the chance.

“I just love animals, I’ve always known this is where I wanted to be but for the chance to experience it early on, it was a great learning experience,” senior Ashley Liriano said.

During the internship, Liriano was given the opportunity to assist the veterinarians with filing, routine check-ups and standard procedures on all types of animals. The most eye-opening experience for Liriano was learning about the unique veterinary practices she did not know of, such as treatment for exotic animals, companionship and mixed practice.

Liriano was able to spend time with the animals and gain a better understanding of just how in-depth being a veterinarian can be. It is no surprise that she is already looking forward to the next internship as she looks to further her passion in the veterinary industry.

Most teenagers do not know what they want to do in the future, but internships offer a great insight into a potential career path. Molina and Liriano were able to not only make the most of their summer from their internships but they were also able to get first-hand experience in the professions they aim to pursue.