My name is Danielle Bryan. I am a native of Los Angeles, California and I am just about to enter my final semester of graduate school. As a graduate student with prior business experience, I was concerned that finding a suitable internship would pose a bit of a challenge. While you may be able to include an impressive job title on your resume at the end of your employment, actually gaining valuable hands-on experience in your chosen field is uncommon.
Many interns undertake menial responsibilities that only touch the surface of their field, if at all. Internships do not often provide the type of expansion of knowledge that many seek. However, I was lucky enough to get one of those coveted internships that was just the opposite.
I am an intern for the Office of Volunteer Programs at the American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles. My duties have been far from menial, and have included tasks such as receiving community disaster education training to give presentations to outside agencies and community groups in preparation for various types of emergencies and disasters, providing support to the marketing and communications department as well as Office of Volunteer Programs by writing articles on our volunteers for printed publications and for the volunteer section of their website. I have also been assisting with recruitment and management of new volunteers to working on individual development, outreach, and event planning projects through the OVP department.
To me, this summer internship has been more than something to put on my resume. It has afforded me an unparalleled opportunity to work with intelligent and passionate group of individuals who freely provide advice, which helps me gain an understanding of just how incredible non-profit can be. My advice to students seeking an experience like the one I was lucky enough to have this past summer, is that the most important thing you can do is “put yourself out there.” Walt Disney once said “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them”.
