Each year coordinators at the MSU Safe Place, a haven for victims of domestic violence, hire interns to handle services for the organization.

Friday is the last day for this summer's interns, and 2005 graduate Hope Delecke and anthropology senior Kelly Nowicki said the experience at Safe Place will stay with them long after college.

"After I graduate I plan to go to the Peace Corps and work in community health," Nowicki said. "Just the training I've got alone dealing with people day to day will definitely help me in the future."

Delecke said that each day is different because each case or victim is different.

"I dealt with many victims on a daily basis," she said. "I mostly did advocacy which helps them with their basic needs."

Delecke and Nowicki said their jobs include driving victims to court dates, helping them find apartments and job searching. And even though it's not part of the internship, they also help collect donated cell phones that victims can use for emergencies.

"Sometimes you get personally involved because when you help them look for a job and they don't get the job it not only disappoints them but I also might get disappointed," Nowicki said.

"But on the other end, when you help them look for a job or apartment and they get it, you get really excited so there is a level of personal involvement."

Nowicki said things at Safe Place are different in the summer.

"It's not as busy as it is during the fall semester," she said. "During the summer we have more older women come in but in the fall I've heard there are a lot of college students coming in."

Advocacy Coordinator Erica Schmittdiel said the interns' jobs vary.

"We have different things interns can do," she said. "If they are an undergrad student they will have more of a hands-on training helping victims with whatever they need."

One major lesson the interns said they learned throughout the summer was that there are many faces of domestic violence.

"Going into this I've realized that all the myths about domestic violence are not true," Nowicki said. "It's just not as easy for these women to leave like people think."

Delecke said she agrees.

"Some people like to say 'Why are these women still with their husbands? Why don't they just leave?'" she said. "It's not that simple - there is fear, children and stress involved that can complicate the issue."

Safe Place helps verbally abused women, too.

"Verbal abuse is worse than physical abuse because the scars can heal on the outside - but on the inside, it's more damaging," Nowicki said.

Schmittdiel said in order to counsel the victims, interns would have to be master's degree-level students.

"Since we can't act as counselors we pretty much empathize with them and are there to listen," Delecke said. "Sometimes they aren't looking for advice, they just want to vent; we let them know we are there to help."

All interns require training and training hours can be submitted as a part of the total internship hours.

"All the interns go through 40-hour training," Schmittdiel said. "They learn about domestic violence in general and you don't necessarily have to have previous experience to work with us."

Other issues covered in training are diversity, suicide and crisis intervention.

The average internship is 20-40 hours per week for at least one semester, and although class credit is available it does not act as a requirement.

Delecke and Nowicki said the internship program at the Safe Place expands their perspective on life.

"This internship is not just for people with social relations or psychology majors, it works for all," Delecke said. "It works for your life in general."