Internship provides Arn with experience as she pursues counseling career

Northwest Missouri State University student Maddie Arn applied her passion for helping others through opportunities on and away from the campus – and better prepared herself for a counseling career along the way.

Arn, a native of St. Joseph, Missouri, graduated this spring with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. On campus, she was active in Psi Chi, an international honor society for psychology scholars.

Maddie Arn graduated from Northwest this spring and is pursuing a career in counseling. (Photo by Lauren Adams/Northwest Missouri State University

But her most impactful experience may have been her internship with North Star Advocacy Center, a non-profit shelter for people who have experienced domestic or sexual violence.

After talking with one of her psychology instructors about her desire for more profession-based experience, Arn secured the internship. She assisted with case management and accompanied clients to court sessions.

“They have to be working to better themselves,” Arn said. “It is not just a shelter. It’s the next step to get them back on the right track.”

After completing her semester-long internship, Arn was not ready to part ways with North Star because she knew it needed volunteers. So Meghann Kossman, North Star’s volunteer coordinator and court and victim advocate, invited Arn to stay.

“From the beginning, she was very thorough,” Kossman said. “We actually met outside of training time just because she wanted to be that thorough and make sure she did a good job as an intern, and that spoke volumes to me.”

Arn also assisted Cindy Lemar, a victim advocate and the donations coordinator at North Star, with moving clients into new homes.

“She’s an excellent listener,” Lemar said. “She has the ability to see things from different points of view. She’s just genuinely a nice person.”

Having graduated from Northwest, Arn plans to continue volunteering at North Star while working in Maryville at NOCOMO Industries, which helps people with disabilities find employment. Her long-term goals include finding a career in couples or family counseling. 

Volunteering at North Star and working at NOCOMO are two opportunities that helped Arn find her career path.

“A lot of my stuff has been outside of the campus, but I never would have connected with any of that had it not been for Northwest,” Arn said.