Photo by Ernesto Rivera
My friends and I have all heard the horror stories passed down from intern to intern of hours spent at the photocopy machine, the impossible-to-please supervisor and the endless list of mindless tasks (“If you could change the font of all these documents from Arial to Times New Roman that would be great, thanks.”)
If those stories represent the stereotypical internship, I can say with confidence – and a lot of relief - that the time I spent with Empowered Woman International was everything the typical internship is not. Since the beginning of December when I first started working as an intern, I’ve tried my hand at so many different projects and processes within the organization. From grant research to data organization to building furniture (we got a crash course on IKEA construction in June), there is no lack of variety in the tasks I was assigned to, and I was always encouraged to take the initiative if I saw an opportunity to start something on my own.
One project that I would have never imagined spearheading was the coordination and scheduling of EWI’s social media. In fact, if you had asked me in November if I felt comfortable publishing a blog post I would have given you a blank stare or redirected you immediately to someone a little (OK, a lot) more tech-savvy. Little by little, I was introduced to WordPress, Pinterest, Razoo, Flickr and all of the other web platforms we use to keep the organization running and spread the word about what EWI does, and now I feel 100% (you guessed it) empowered!
EWI’s social media strategy is still in the works and I can’t wait to see what the next intern will bring to the table! As for me, I have one more semester of school left, but when the time comes I can enter the workforce with a clear idea of what I’m good at, what I enjoy doing and how these skills will benefit a potential employer. Professional life aside, I feel as though I’ve really grown as a person after working with such an energetic, creative team and talking with so many talented artists! All my thanks for such an awesome opportunity!
- Liz, Social Media Intern, Summer 2012
Learn more and apply for internships here.
