Washington Academic Internship Program

Please provide a briefly description of your STEP Signature Project.

My STEP signature project was an internship through the John Glenn College’s Washington Academic Internship Program (WAIP). While I was originally supposed to live in DC, due to COVID-19, the internship and class component of the program was entirely virtual. I interned full time at the Partnership for Public Service, which is a nonpartisan nonprofit based out of DC on their Development team. I also was enrolled in two Public Affairs classes, which included writing my capstone paper, and I attended weekly professional development workshops ands study tours with my cohort.

 

What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project?

My STEP signature project took place during the first semester of my senior year, so preparing to graduate and start my career was at the forefront of my mind during my internship and the WAIP experience. I’m double majoring in Public Affairs and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies with a specialization in the Nonprofit Management, and while my courses have taught me a great deal about my career interests, I wanted to make sure I could apply my academics and understand more about my future before I graduated. Because of this, I pursued internships in the nonprofit sector, particularly in development or fundraising positions as these are of great interest to me.

Throughout my internship, I was able to learn that my skills, passions, and strengths align really well with the nonprofit sector and development positions. I also learned that I’m really motivated by work in the nonprofit sector. The professional development workshops through WAIP also have made me feel much more confident in my professional skills, such as networking and salary negotiation.

 

What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you?

Some of the events that affected me the most during the WAIP program was my role on the Development team at my organization, where I had a really good relationship with my supervisor and she gave me a lot of responsibilities. Some of the accomplishments or projects I completed during my internship term were writing a grant report to send to a foundation, writing a blog post that went on the organization’s website, drafting correspondence with stakeholders and donors, and research projects on prospective donors. I was able to strengthen my oral and written communication skills through the different projects while also improving my organizational skills as I often had many different projects on my plate. Additionally, my supervisor taught me a lot about nonprofit operations, nonprofit development, donor relationship management, and donor cultivation. This hands on experience allowed my education to be enriched even further from classroom experiences.

Another aspect of the WAIP program that was really beneficial to my semester was our weekly professional development workshops. Every Wednesday night after my internship, my WAIP cohort would participate in Zoom calls with OSU alum. These zoom calls gave us a great opportunity to practice our networking skills and learn about different career paths, as each week had a specific theme. Some of these included careers on capitol hill, in journalism, the nonprofit sector, the federal government, and in education. The wide array of people I was able to meet and ask questions about their career allowed me to explore so many different career paths. The nonprofit week in particular really solidified my desire to work within the nonprofit sector, as I was able to learn what day to day positions look like for those in the sector and ask advice from them. Additionally, I learned skills that will be especially important when I graduate, such as salary negotiation, job searching, resume tips and interview techniques. We had a mock interview night where OSU alum individually asked us common interview questions and then gave us feedback, which was especially important and helpful to me. There were a few other opportunities for mock interviews and the entire semester has made me feel more prepared than ever before for interviews.

Another part of the program that I enjoyed were the classes that we took through them, PUBAFRS 4020 and PUBAFRS 4021. These classes were also conducted via Zoom with my cohort and they gave me the ability to discuss world events and how they affect our government and citizens in our country. As a part of the class, we wrote 15 page capstone papers on a policy of our choosing, so I wrote mine on abortion and reproductive health policy in Ohio. This is one of my greatest policy interests, and since I wasn’t able to engage with it much in my internship, it was really nice being able to focus and research the topic for the class. My research taught me a lot about the current state of affairs in Ohio for abortion policy, and I also presented the research to my cohort at the end of the semester and took questions. This improved my presentation skills and made me feel more confident to pursue work in the reproductive health field upon graduation as I know a lot about the topic now.

 

Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life?

            The semester I completed my STEP project with WAIP was by far one of the most valuable experiences of my undergrad and I believe I grew a lot both professionally and personally. I feel more prepared than ever before to graduate and begin to pursue careers in the nonprofit sector, especially since I was able to grow my interview, resume and salary negotiation skills. I also feel confident because of how much experience I now have in the nonprofit sector and with skills such as oral and written communication, time organization, and advocating for myself in the workplace. The projects I completed while at my internship taught me a lot about the sector and I have experience in skills, like prospect research, that will give me an advantage in the job market upon graduation. I also conducted many informational interviews with those in the nonprofit sector, so I have many connections to different organizations and may be able to use the relationships I built when I’m job searching. Overall, I feel more confident in my professional self and am excited to graduate and start my career.