So recently I was offered the opportunity to intern on a presidential campaign in their campaign headquarters, which I was THRILLED about–problem is, my school isn’t offering me credit for the internship and so I’d essentially be taking a semester off in my sophomore year of college to head out to NY on my own.
My school isn’t super strict on four year graduation so that’s not an issue…I’m just unsure of whether I should take time off school for something like this! Especially without credit.
Any advice anyone might have would be greatly appreciated!
Only if its for the good candidate. 
Presidential elections only come around every 4 years. If its something that really interests you, especially if you plan to work in the political arena postgrad, I don’t see why not. One young man I know who is VERY involved in politics and who is enjoying tremendous success at a very young age took a whole year off from college 4 years ago to work on a campaign.
Volunteering with the campaign that’s going off the rails may not look terribly impressive on a resume 
More seriously, though, like doschicos, I’ve met people who parlayed their political campaign work into fascinating, hard-to-get jobs. It can be a terrific opportunity for the right person.
@katliamom fairly certain that the candidate I would be interning is NOT the candidate that is currently self-destructing…at least, I hope we are thinking the same campaign
And yes, that seems to be the common response. I think I’ll end up doing it–school will be there when the election is over, whereas this opportunity doesn’t come around very often. Thank you!
@sunnyangeleri I agree that this may be an opportunity you won’t have again. Plenty people take time off school with absolutely no negative repercussions. You will have something impressive to put on your resume, may make incredible connections, and are likely to only benefit. Carpe diem is kind of my motto, so pleased to see you going for it. Good luck! (And yea, I think we’re talking about the same campaign :))