The University of Minnesota's Evaluation Studies program has always stressed the importance of gaining real-world evaluation experience. At the Minnesota Evaluation Studies Institute (MESI), students are not only given the mandate of internships/field experiences, but the assistance, support, and mentoring to make it the highest quality learning experience it can be. This presentation will offer the perspective of a student who completed several field placements with MESI, including evaluations of a county foster care system, a disaster relief coalition, a pesticide safety program, and a training curriculum for forensic interviews with abused children. Topics will include the challenges and lessons learned throughout these internships, the components that make for a successful field placement, and the real ways in which these experiences inform professional practice after graduate school.#GraduateStudent #UniversityofMinnesota