How to Make the Most of Your EL Experience(s)

Friday, January 27, 2023

By Annelise Norman, PhD

At the University of Georgia, we cultivate and approve experiential learning opportunities to help you build your future and equip you to change your world. Make sure you're capitalizing on these opportunities! A little planning and preparation will ensure that you maximize your potential during EL activities. Use these tips and insights to stand out to your supervisors and your growing network as you advance toward your future goals.

Choose an experience that connects to your future/degree program/or both

Start by researching opportunities for students in your major or ask your advisor for recommendations about experiential learning for your major. The EL website has a comprehensive list of approved activities organized by college and major, which you can check out here. Think about your personal values, priorities, and interests as well, and use those to narrow your search.

Review EL learning outcomes

There are certain things that you are supposed to get out of experiential learning activities. Familiarize yourself with the EL Learning Outcomes to gain a sense of why this experience is built into your degree program and how an experience like this should positively impact you.

Here’s a quick overview of learning outcomes for each type of EL activity:

Creative Experiences
- Graduates who participate in creative experiences will articulate, implement, and reflect on a substantive application of their academic foundations to a real-world setting and/or challenge.
Study Abroad/Field Studies
- Graduates who participate in study abroad or field study will interact with a culture and/or region distinct from their own and engage in academic inquiry and application afforded by the specific off-campus setting.
Internships
- Graduates who participate in an internship will have practiced skills or methods related to their field of study through supervised work in a professional or organizational setting.
Leadership
- Graduates who participate in leadership activities will articulate, implement, and reflect on a substantive application of their academic foundations to a real-world setting and/or challenge.
Faculty Mentored Research
- Graduates who participate in faculty-mentored research will demonstrate and describe how systematic and in-depth inquiry into a problem contributes to the discovery or interpretation of knowledge significant to their field of study.
Service-Learning
- Graduates who participate in service-learning will demonstrate the ability to identify a community need and strategies for addressing it through mutual learning, critical analysis, reflection and collaboration with a community partner.

For a comprehensive list of learning outcomes, visit our website.

Figure out your “why’s”

Once you’ve settled on an EL activity, think about the reasons behind your choice. What are your motivations? What are your goals? Your “why” should be something solid and foundational – it’s something to turn to when you’re feeling overwhelmed, lost, or questioning your position or choices. The “why” will help keep you centered as you work toward your dream future or career. On tough days, it’s sometimes the only thing that will keep you going. On good days, it will help you to feel fulfilled.

Prepare for the experience

Setting goals and expectations for your EL activity will help you to start off with a focused mindset. It allows you to exercise agency over your experience, which is likely clouded with some uncertainty. What will the work environment be like? Do I have the right clothes and supplies to look the part and play my role? How will I get my boss or leader to like me? Will this be personally fulfilling? What if this industry turns out to be nothing like I thought? Figure out the things you do have control over and sort out the things you want to get clarification on later.

Take this opportunity seriously

This is sort of a given, as it’s directly tied to your future/career interests and aspirations. But make sure you’re putting your best foot forward, dressing appropriately for the position/work environment and building relationships with people at all levels. Seek out feedback on your performance and implement positive changes when needed.

Reflect on your experience while it’s still happening

Check in with yourself throughout the activity or experience, and take an inventory. (This is a great opportunity for journaling!) How are things going? How do you think you’re doing? What have you learned about this activity/job or field? Are your expectations being met or exceeded? What’s working, and what’s not working? Are there any points of misalignment between your goals and the reality of your experience? What can be changed or improved about your experience while it’s still going on? Don’t forget to take an inventory of your growing professional network!

Taking the time to reflect on your experience and your progress during your activity will help you find/create opportunities to make necessary changes and ensure that you will get something out of your experience. Taking mental (or physical) notes during this time will also give you something to look back on when you are creating entries for your resume or making important decisions about your future trajectory.

Document your experience while it’s still fresh

As soon as your internship, job, activity, or other EL experience wraps up, take note of all that you did and all that you learned. Go ahead and format your actions for a resume entry and jot down your thoughts and epiphanies for future interview material. You’ll be glad you did when you start a job search!

Stay connected

Continue to nurture the relationships you built after the experience ends. So much of getting an interview or securing an opportunity is about who you know and what your former coworkers or managers have to say about you. Keep in touch and check in periodically on LinkedIn, email, or other channels that were used during your time spent with these people.

Annelise Norman holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Georgia, where she currently works as the Scholarships & Public Relations Coordinator for the Office of Experiential Learning. Annelise can be contacted at anorm94@uga.edu. For the latest news and announcements from EL, follow us on Instagram.