Interning with Passion

By: Nancy

It was obvious to me that I needed to start seeking out a good internship opportunity for myself my senior year of college. I was having trouble finding internships that suited me. I have heard that you must create opportunities for yourself, and many jobs are not even listed. My minor is in Anthropology, and that will actually be my Master’s program, so I looked at museums, and National Geographic. Unfortunately all of these internships required a lot of travel and time so I decided not to pursue these opportunities.

At an environmental awareness concert, I started letting people know I was looking for an internship that was involved in the environmental activism community. This is a very important issue to me, and it started to make sense that this is the kind of field I should be working in. I contacted a few different environmental organizations that were located in the area, and within a week I heard back from the West Michigan Environmental Action Committee. The head of Management told me that a different environmental organization had forwarded my name. At the exact moment she had been contacted about my desire to write and help local organizations, she had actually been thinking about how she needed an additional writer on staff that could help.

Within a week of the fundraiser I had attended, I had the position with WMEAC. I never needed a formal interview, I was able to send her my website and she saw what I was interested in and how I could contribute immediately. The website I had made for one of my classes helped more than I had imagined, and basically got the job for me. We talked for quite some time about the job, but it was more focused on what I needed to get the credits for GVSU rather than what they needed.

My advice is to really look into causes that are important, companies or organizations you are already familiar with and want to help anyway. It may be unpaid but the experience is the most important thing about the internship. I am so proud to lend my writing abilities and experience to such a great organization!