“My internship with Youth Homes showed me a different path to making a difference. I worked behind the scenes on a lot of little projects that contributed to a big cause and real-world change.”
During Athenian’s March Term last year, Sonya served as a communications and marketing intern for Youth Homes of Contra Costa. During her three week internship, Sonya gained real-world experience while contributing to a mission-driven nonprofit.
A key aspect of Athenian’s internship program is providing real-world experience with the process of applying for a job. In addition to her formal interview, Sonya was asked to submit a variety of writing samples and respond to a real case writing prompt to demonstrate how she’d perform in a marketing role. While these initial steps were new and challenging for Sonya, she was quick to point out that the greatest challenge of the three week internship was finding her place in a totally new and unfamiliar environment. Her top-notch writing skills, honed during her years at Athenian and included writing for the school paper, meant she had a lot to offer her new colleagues and the organization. Picking up on different styles of writing, with the help of great supervisors and mentors, came fairly easily to her. Learning work culture and the organization’s culture took a little more time. “I walked into my first day at Youth Homes equipped with a laptop, mask, and business formal outfit—nervous that I would stand out from everyone else. However, in one way or another, I did stand out through the first week—knocking on doors when I could walk in, carrying a mask around with me when no one nearby seemed to need one, and even forgetting to bring lunch some days.”
Sonya’s supervisors gave her meaningful projects. “What I worked on differed from day-by-day. I created social media graphics, blog posts, researched thrift homes, put together and sent out the monthly newsletter, compiled logos and mission statements for neighbor nonprofits, attended calls with prospective investors, wrote about volunteer homes, and more.” Her most long term project was building Youth Homes’ partnership website page—which she worked on from start-to-finish. “I began by compiling all mission statements, logos, and websites of each partner, adding information about what they have done with Youth Homes. I laid out the design of the page, finding spotlight partnerships and photos for each partner. At the end, I had a completed framework of the page—including all information needed to publish on the page on the website, which was coded to the platform the week after I finished my internship.”
While Sonya is grateful for the marketing and communication-specific skills she gained during her internship, she was most surprised and appreciative of what she learned about work culture, networking, and the sense of purpose that comes with working for a nonprofit. “I learned to present myself to a formal audience, network with like-minded professionals, and saw how contributing to something that benefits others on a daily basis left me feeling really happy.” She adds, “Before the internship I was mostly a STEM-focused student with an interest in psychology. Now, I am signed up for a broader range of classes and am thinking about a major in business or marketing as I look ahead to college. I know I want to do something to contribute to the greater good and now have a better understanding of the many paths to that end.”
About March Term:
March Term is an opportunity for Upper School students to break from their regular class schedule to take a deep dive into a specific experience or subject matter for two to three weeks. There are approximately 20 March Term course offerings in a given year. Taught by Athenian teachers, March Term courses most often involve local travel and opportunities to connect with outside industry or knowledge experts. While courses vary from year-to-year, 2023 offerings include: Act UP, Act OUT: Arts & Activism, California Fire, Exercise Science, and the internship program highlighted here. The internship program focuses on placing Athenian students as interns in nonprofit and social government agencies. Message Athenian via LinkedIn or email [email protected] if you or your organization would like to offer an internship opportunity for March 2023.
