For our first post, Kendra and I thought we would write about the internships that we had this summer. Kendra and I are rising seniors and have both attained internships for ourselves so we can try to build up our resume, learn new skills, and see what kind of work we might want to do later in life. I hope this blog post finds you well and helps you find information you might be looking for.
Hello Friends! My name is Fiona and this summer I interned at GFI, which stands for Global Fairness Initiative. GFI's mission is to "promote a more equitable, sustainable, approach to economic development for the world's working poor by advancing fair wages, equal access to markets, and balanced public policy to generate opportunity and end the cycle of poverty." Or otherwise stated, it's a non-profit organization that does a lot of different work in a lot of different areas that in the end works towards a better world. I am the first high school intern at GFI so my role changes daily at the organization. Sometimes I get the mail, do grant research, take notes at meetings, and really anything else they ask me to do because I am so grateful to be there. One thing about being an intern in high school at many organizations or companys is that ultimately you need to learn that you basically have no say in anything. Now that doesn't mean you're not allowed to make suggestions here and there but it means that you accept every coffee/mail run no matter how hot or rainy it is outside with a smile. A lot of questions I always get asked is, "How did you get that internship?!" to which I would embarrassingly explain that it was through my mother. As much as I don't want to accept it, your parents are really important in the internship process, at least it was for me. I don't go to public school so there aren't programs available to put me into an internship like Kendra's PRIME program, which makes the contacts that my parents have all the more important. My advice for those looking for an internship is talk to your parents and see if they know anyone who works at a company that your interested in working for. Usually your parents have friends (if not that's sad and you should push them to go make friends) that are friendly enough to take you under their wing for the summer. Another piece of advise is don't be picky. Although I am interning at GFI that doesn't mean that in college I'm going to major in international studies or that I now have to work at non-profit later in life. Don't let your internship define you because if you do you will miss out on incredible opportunities to meet new people, practice your writing skills, and use those things you learned in school that you thought you would never use. I hope that information helps! If you have any questions just leave a comment on the post and I will be happy to answer!
Here is a link to the website of the organization I interned at: http://www.globalfairness.org
Hello my name is Kendra! This summer I am interning at Arlington Connections Newspaper, which is a local newspaper in my area. I obtained my internship through a program called PRIME, a which connects kids based on their interests to local companies looking for interns. At my internship I wrote an article about local boutiques and attended weekly field trips with the other interns in the PRIME program. Since I am interested in fashion, PRIME didn't have much to offer me, however I am still glad I participated in this program because it has taught me a lot. PRIME is only offered to students who are declared as gifted, so if you're looking to apply to this program make sure that you have been declared. Overall my experience hasn't been that great and since I was only there for a month I can only say that I am looking forward to putting my creative energies else where. However, I am very glad I took this opportunity because I've learned a lot about newspapers and realized I never want to be a reporter. If you have any questions as Fiona previously mentioned just comment on the post and I will be happy to answer them!
Here is a link to the online version of the Newspaper I interned at: http://www.arlingtonconnection.com.
