NOTE: This article is the first in a series titled, UALR Co-op Works, highlighting the successes of students who have jump-started their careers by landing internship positions with local companies through the UALR Cooperative Education Internship and Placement Office.

Internships led to full-time job

Leah Fahlenkamp’s natural inquisitiveness motivates her to investigate the perspectives held by other people. She has always wanted to know how things work and how other people see the world.

“The Co-op has allowed me to apply this curiosity in multiple different fields, which was exactly what I wanted,” Fahlenkamp said.

She enjoyed two Co-op internships while she earned her bachelor’s degree at UALR.

Through each of them, she gained beneficial work experience and developed a network of contacts that set her on track for immediate employment after graduation. In addition, she saw first-hand how different companies operate.

Fahlenkamp worked as a circulation intern at Arkansas Business Publishing Group. Though she was the youngest intern at the company, she received an award for being the best.

“I loved the variety of tasks and the professionalism I experienced there. I learned a vast amount of computer knowledge that in turn helped me through my classes and continue to help me in my current job.”

At FFO Home, she worked as a salesperson and did so well as an intern they offered her a full-time position after she graduated with her B.A. degree in May, graduating magna cum laude.

To learn more about internship opportunities, go to the UALR Cooperative Education Internship and Placement Office.

To support the newly established Jesse Mason and Gail Reede Jones, M.D. Endowed Scholarship for Co-op interns, or to attend the program’s 20th anniversary event Oct. 24, go to UALR Co-op Works.