Isabel’s Summer Internship Experience
I am looking forward to spending my last year of high school with such a wonderful community of people and pushing myself to think creatively about the events we put on, and figuring out what issues spark passion in me.
I have absolutely loved being part of the summer internship program. I had been hoping to do it last year, but with multiple trips during the six weeks it wouldn’t have worked with my schedule. After hearing about my friend’s positive experiences participating in it I was excited to have another opportunity to apply, this time after being a VEP leader during the school year. I think by participating in the internship this summer I was actually more prepared and it was more beneficial to me than if it had been my first introduction to Passion Impact as a whole, as it would have been last year.
In addition to my excitement, I was a bit unsure of how I would handle having assigned work to complete during the summer–which isn’t usually how I spend my months off–and feared it would be too similar to having homework during the school year. After having weekly readings, TedTalks to watch, activities to complete, and workshops and meetings to attend, my interest has been consistently kept and the work has taught me some really valuable skills that I feel lucky to have gotten before graduating and entering the “real world” of adulthood. An unexpected benefit of the workload has been that it’s helped me combat all the time I tend to spend during the summer not getting much done and feeling incredibly unproductive. It has felt fulfilling to accomplish tasks each week and has kept my brain engaged.
My favorite part of the internship, which isn’t surprising given this seems to be the case in most things I participate in, has been getting to spend time with the other interns. Building my connections with the new VEP leaders from Franklin and getting to know the MHS interns that I wouldn’t have ever met without this internship is one of the reasons I appreciate PI so much– it gives me an additional community to be part of. The environment in the office is extremely welcoming and comfortable and has made going to meetings something I look forward to!
Through the activities we’ve done in this internship, I have acquired a clearer understanding of what Passion Impact’s mission is, specifically pertaining to high school programming, and I feel like this knowledge could have guided me in creating more relevant and impactful events last school year. Because of this, I am looking forward to spending my last year of high school with such a wonderful community of people and pushing myself to think creatively about the events we put on, and figuring out what issues spark passion in me.
Isabel