High school students are speaking up ... and what they’re saying is reshaping the purpose of school.

Every semester, when I sit down with students in the Naperville Career Internship Program and ask why they want an internship, their reasons come fast, honest, and surprisingly mature. When you stack these insights together, a real pattern appears. Students aren’t chasing “extra credit.” They’re chasing meaning, identity, clarity, and confidence.

Here’s the breakdown.

1. “I want to see what the real world is like.”

Students are tired of guessing.
They want proximity to workplaces, to adults doing real jobs, and to expectations they’ll face later in life.

They’re craving experience over theory.

When a student walks into a business and sees how teams communicate, how projects unfold, how problems get solved — their worldview expands. Suddenly, school isn’t the whole world anymore. It’s just the beginning.

2. “I want to figure out what I’m good at.”

This one hits home every time.

They want clarity.
Not another personality test.
Not another “what career fits you?” worksheet.

They want to be tossed into real work and discover what actually energizes them, frustrates them, or comes naturally.

This is identity-building work ... the stuff we should be doing all along.

3. “College is expensive. I want to make sure I’m not guessing.”

Students absolutely understand the economics of college.

They don’t want a $120,000 experiment.
They don’t want to pick a major because it “sounds good.”

They want to test-drive career paths early so they don’t lose time or money later.

This is career navigation, not career pressure.

4. “I want to build skills I can’t learn in a classroom.”

Durable skills.
Communication.
Time management.
Problem solving.
Teamwork.
Feedback cycles.

They know these skills matter. More importantly… they know these are the skills employers actually hire for.

Students want reps. They want to improve. They want to be challenged in ways a worksheet can’t imitate.

5. “I want to feel like I’m contributing to something real.”

This is probably the most underrated reason.

Students want meaning.
They want to matter.
They want to see that what they’re doing helps someone else or moves a project forward.

When a 17-year-old sees their work impact real people?
Confidence skyrockets.

And suddenly, they’re not “just a kid.”
They’re a capable contributor.

6. “I want connections to people who actually do this work.”

Students are hungry for mentorship and professionals in their community are hungry to give it.

Internships create the human bridges school often fails to build.

These relationships are often the spark that changes everything:
A future job.
A scholarship.
A new career direction.
A belief in themselves.

7. “I want to stand out.”

Let’s be honest: students know the game.

But unlike the old “stack your résumé with clubs you don’t care about,” internships aren’t a game. They’re authentic.

They signal initiative, courage, curiosity, and the ability to operate in the real world.

That’s the new competitive edge.

The Bottom Line: Students Want Relevance.

Every reason points back to a simple truth:

Students want learning that actually connects to their lives.

They’re asking for relevance, purpose, clarity, and challenge — the exact things the traditional system often struggles to deliver.

And that’s why internship programs — like the one exploding at Naperville — are becoming the backbone of future-ready education. They’re giving students what school alone can’t:
Experience.
Confidence.
Direction.
Identity.
Value.
Opportunity.

When you listen to students long enough, they’ll tell you exactly what they need.

Internships aren’t “extra.”

They’re the new foundation.