Editor's note: Intern Spotlight is a Ball State Daily News series profiling Ball State students and their summer internships. If you have any suggestions as to who we should feature next, send an email to editor@bsudailynews.com.
Cole Callahan has always been interested in giving back to his community.
Growing up, the Ball State junior telecommunications student wanted to become the mayor of Madison, Indiana, his home town.
In high school, he interned for the mayor Damon Welch and his passion for helping the community has since grown as he wants to continue moving up into higher government entities.
“I’ve always wanted to do so much for the people who have done so much for me,” Callahan said. “I think the best way for me to show that is, being higher up in public service, I can do something for the Hoosier community.”
Last summer, when Callahan was searching for summer internships online, he stumbled across something called the Governor’s Public Service Internship Program.
After looking through the description for the internship, Callahan knew it was exactly what he wanted to do. He prepared his application and held onto it so when it came time to apply in February, he was ready.
“As soon as they came out, I applied,” Callahan said. “I already had my application ready and then I got a call back within maybe a couple of months.”
This summer, Callahan has been working as the communication and marketing intern for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Within the department, he has worked closely with the Hoosier Initiative for Re-Entry, or HIRE program.
According to the program's website, more than 20,000 inmates are released every year from Indiana prisons. The initial release time is often problematic for many of the inmates, as “nearly three-quarters of Hoosier employers are reluctant or flat-out refuse to hire ex-offenders,” according to in.gov.
“When people go to jail, the only have to make a few decisions a day until they get out,” Callahan said. “It’s a hard transition from only making those couple of decisions to making a bunch.”
Finding a job, buying a house and readjusting to society are just a few of the decisions that former inmates have to make – that’s where HIRE comes in.
The program coordinators help those inmates readjust, putting them through different modules and explaining to businesses why they should hire them.
Callahan said he’s been immersed into this program, creating numerous videos.
“It’s the first job I’ve ever had that I wake up and I’m excited to go to work,” Callahan said. “It’s a very intimate job and I think what we do impacts people very directly.”
While Callahan isn’t sure exactly what drew him into public service, he says a lot of his interest stemmed from how public servant’s helped his mother, helping out on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“My mom was really poor when she was young and the Salvation Army really provided for her,” Callahan said. “I saw how that impacted her, just how that little act of kindness impacted her and gave her the opportunity to be a normal child.
“I think that’s what drew me into wanting to do bigger and better things for people that I am in the community with.”
Callahan’s internship may soon come to an end, but having the experience cemented his future plans of working in public service following graduation.
“I definitely want to, in some way, do public service,” Callahan said. “My ultimate goal is to make the opportunity in Indiana, or whatever community I’m a part of, the best opportunity possible.”
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