History student Makayla Hahn receives the Faculty of Humanities Internship Student-of-the-Year award for 2024

The Faculty of Humanities is kicking off Work-Integrated Learning Month this year by announcing the recipient of the inaugural Internship Student-of-the-Year Award. Congratulations to Makayla Hahn, a third-year Honours History student who will receive the award this year.  

The award recognizes students who have participated in the Humanities Internship Program and have demonstrated excellent work in the community, whether that be in the workplace, at McMaster, or with other organizations.  

In her internship, Hahn worked for the City of Kitchener as a Building Youth Leadership Development (BYLD) and Trips & Special Guests coordinator. In this role she led a volunteer program that trained over 100 youth volunteers aged 12-15 to develop skills essential for working with children. This included skills such as how to engage with children, foster inclusivity by respecting diverse needs and interests, and embody leadership in a camp setting.  

She also co-ordinated more than 150 events, often running upwards of 20 events weekly.  

“One of my key commitments was to foster an inclusive and supportive environment for the 100+ youth volunteers I trained. I actively engaged with each participant, designing and delivering workshops that taught them how to work with children with diverse abilities, and become effective leaders. This consistent engagement ensured that the volunteers felt confident and supported in their roles, which, in turn, contributed to the success of the program,” recalls Hahn.  

The Humanities internships are paid, part-time or full-time work placements of 4, 8, 12 or 16 consecutive months. Interns have worked in a variety of fields in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors, including community development, fundraising, research, policy, culture and heritage, and more.  

“Our Humanities Internship Program provides students with an invaluable opportunity to gain career-related work experience while completing their degree,” says Shaina McDonald, the manager of experiential programming and outreach for the Faculty of Humanities.  

“This program allows participants to seamlessly integrate their academic knowledge into a real-world work setting, while also enabling students to develop their professional network, acquire pertinent skills essential for achieving their career aspirations, and enhance their competitiveness in the post-graduation job market. 

Students in the internship program are able to expand their employment-related skills, while also exploring career options.  

“During my internship, I was pushed outside my comfort zone and faced challenges that revealed strengths and potential I hadn’t fully realized I had. This experience allowed me to build on key pillars of the Humanities, such as adaptability, communication, and critical thinking, and greatly deepened my appreciation for my degree,” says Hahn.  

Internship experiences can also help inform academic endeavours, such as providing direction toward certain research topics.  

“My internship has inspired me to pursue research projects that uncover voices often overlooked in history,” Hahn explains. “Working with youth from diverse backgrounds during my internship taught me the importance of creating space for stories that are too often ignored. This perspective has deeply influenced my academic interests.”  

To further build on her internship opportunities, Hahn also took HUMAN 2CP2 (now HUMAN 2CP3), an experiential learning course that helps students use their education and the skills they’ve developed in their programs to build a meaningful career. 

Hahn’s supervisor, Janice Ouellete, explains the impact of her work-ethic and efforts not only on the team she worked with, but the youth she led.  

“Out of the thousands of young people I have worked with, I can easily say that Makayla is one of the elite top 10,” she says. “Makayla is an awesome example of a student intern who went above and beyond to make an impact in her community through her Humanities internship and is an outstanding role-model for others.”  

The Faculty of Humanities is dedicated to helping students become future-ready through quality experiential learning opportunities. Through internships and experiential learning, students are well prepared for life beyond university in their ability to lead, problem-solve, think critically, and communicate.  

If you’d like to learn more about Humanities internships, check out the Internships page on the Humanities website.