Campus Connection

By UW-L student intern Heidi Gempeler Every morning UW-La Crosse junior Jack Rettler wakes up at his aunt and uncle’s house in Brooklyn, New York and takes a 25-minute subway ride to his summer internship. Rettler, a political science and public administration double major, is learning about a future in law and life in the big city as a summer intern for the New York County District Attorney’s office. Rettler has a wide range of responsibilities as a summer intern, such as researching case law for attorneys, organizing and keeping track of professional contacts within the unit, and entering data for crime prevention programs. As a summer intern, Rettler has been given many great opportunities such as taking trips to the New York Police Department Tactical Training Facility and the New York Mental Health Courts, and even attending lectures from senior prosecutors. These lectures allow the summer interns to really understand what life is like as a prosecutor. Rettler’s summer internship is paid in a weekly stipend. Karolyn Bald, UWL Career Services coordinator, assisted Rettler with all of his paperwork prior to starting the internship. Bald finds internships and outside experience to be extremely beneficial while searching for jobs. “I think that students are getting savvy to the fact that they need these kinds of experiences to be competitive when applying for jobs or graduate schools,” she says. As an intern, this real-world experience in the field of law has benefitted Rettler in his career search. He now believes that law school is something that he wants to pursue following graduation from UWL, now that he has internship experience in the field and knows that it is enjoyable to him. “I have learned that if I take pride in my work and truly care about the end result, I can achieve anything I set my mind to,” he says. “It is one of the most valuable skills I have learned from this whole experience.”