These ideas for internships and “pathway jobs” are terrific! I’ve pulled up both suggested links and am pretty amazed that you’ve got the knowledge you do (and are kind enough to share with some random family).
On that essay contest, I don’t know that a semester at sea would interest my kid or that he has anything more than a vague idea of how foreign service workers interact with civilians to promote diplomacy, but - this is the kind of thing that is entirely in his wheelhouse.
He’d be thrilled to be an unpaid intern - the payment is what he’d learn and how he’d be able to contribute in some way. Other than his ridiculous amount of hours of volunteerism, he also did some grunt work for a local political candidate. He learned some things, but the bigger takeaway was in feeling like he helped try to make a positive impact on the community.
My most sincere thanks to you.