For some degree programs at The University of Alabama, completion of a degree indicates a student has spent time working in their field of study, not just studying and taking classes about their field.

Corey Tyson said his experience in APR 433, a public relations class where he worked to win a campaign for the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, was like a senior project.

“[You] apply everything you’ve learned in the last four years into one project,” said Tyson, who graduated in the fall of 2013. “By the time graduation rolls around, you’ve already got at least one year’s worth of real life experience even if you don’t have an internship.”

Tyson said he loved how competitive the work in the class was.

“PR is a pretty competitive field, and UA already has, year after year, one of the highest ranked PR programs in the nation,” he said. “When a real client is added to the mix, it makes you step your game up even more.”

The class involved a final presentation, which was the first time their group met with their potential client.

“You get to compete for their interest. They don’t see you day in, day out, so when you have a presentation to show progress or the final product, most of the time it’s the first time the client has seen your work,” he said. “We didn’t get a face-to-face meeting with the client until the end of the semester when we presented our campaigns in front of them.”

Tyson said he felt the UA program would’ve prepared him for a career, but APR 433, which is a required class, left “no question” that he would be ready to go into public relations.

Alternatively, Josh Grammer, a secondary education major and social studies student currently interning at Northridge High School, said he thinks the intern hours are invaluable for those who want to become teachers. He said he believes they are required because the University’s teaching program is determined to continue as a top program, as well as stay in tune with the current job market.

“Today, we are competing fiercely for any job we can get. If we truly believe that our University graduates are up to par, then we should prepare them to be,” he said. “Experience cannot be replaced.”

Grammer said coursework alone couldn’t fully prepare a student to become a teacher.

“If UA students sit in a class all day, earn a degree, and begin a career with no experience, they are bound for difficult times. Your best hope at success is mentorship and experience. During our education, I believe the experience is where the true learning occurs,” he said. “We learn theories and ideas in our lectures, but we do not fully comprehend an idea until we have seen it implemented. I am alarmed at the number of students who have never held a job when they graduate.”

Working in a school, Grammer said, allows him to combine what he learns at the University with real students that he connects with.

“Student teaching has kept me in touch with what I am really doing this for. I am not sitting in a college class learning about ‘students,’” he said. “I am involved in real people’s lives. I see them every day. I see them at Taco Casa and everywhere else imaginable. I am a teacher, but I am also a real person. The students need to see that, and I need to see them the same way.”

He also credits the University’s College of Education with providing realistic, experienced professors.

“We are blessed to have professors who have taught for several years in the school systems that we will most likely work in,” he said. “The difference between ‘professor’ and ‘teacher’ is often nonexistent.”

Where Tyson and Grammer gained hands-on experience as part of their majors’ required curriculum, Kristen Alexander, a senior majoring in communicative disorders, had to go through a competitive application process to secure her spot in the University’s undergraduate clinic.

“Our teachers are great but nothing beats actually doing therapy to learn,” she said. “You don’t learn the social aspect of speech therapy and what motivates the kids to talk and work with you.”

Alexander sees and treats actual patients at The University of Alabama’s Speech and Hearing Center. The experience, she said, is an essential part of her preparation for graduate school and a career.

“It is an important way to bridge the gap between knowledge and practice,” she said. “The material makes so much more sense when you are applying your knowledge hands-on.”