1.  This internship lasted from January to April of 2024 for about 8 hours per week. The day-to-day activities included handling administrative tasks for REACH training on campus. This involved preparing materials for the training and communicating with the trainers for pick up and return. This internship also offered opportunities to work and represent the program at RUOK Day, The Out of the Darkness Walk, and the Involvement Fair. There were also weekly staff meetings to understand the work of every employee at the program and learn as much as possible about suicide prevention.

2. This internship has changed me to believe that I can be a leader for my community especially with discussing and spreading knowledge about difficult topics such as suicide. I felt that through representing OSUSPP as a student at events, I could connect with others on our passion for suicide prevention. I started working on my transformation as a leader when creating my goals with the assistant director during my first week. The goals involve growth in knowledge, skill, and personal development. My knowledge goal was to learn as much as I could about suicide prevention at OSU and about other trainings outside of OSU. My skill goal was to learn how to be a leader, while also being empathetic to others. My personal development goal was working on being vulnerable while also developing as a leader as this was never a strength of mine. 

Through this internship, I realized that when speaking on a sensitive topic such as suicide, it is easy to be empathetic while leading others. This is not a company where you feel that strength and power are essential to display when being a leader, which is ultimately a stereotype. I learned how to be a leader through immersion in the experience. You can’t prepare for it besides ensuring you have a solid knowledge about the topic of discussion and what you are advocating for. When you have a passion for what you are doing, it becomes exciting to lead others to the help they need or the help others need. You can feel the difference you are making even if you cannot witness it directly! Just participating in these events was enough to know I was accomplishing the goals I set during that first week. 

3. I spent the beginning of the internship researching and learning as much about suicide prevention at Ohio State as I could. I believed that with a solid knowledge of the program and what it does to help students, this was the best way I could spread awareness about suicide prevention. I researched different suicide prevention trainings utilized in Ohio, and I also researched the difference between empathy and sympathy to ensure I correctly went about leading others. I decided to take these actions after I set the three goals I mentioned in the previous response. These gave me the motivation to research, and become the best leader I could during my time at OSUSPP. 

I spent a large portion of my internship facilitating REACH bin materials for the Ohio State REACH trainings on campus. I consistently communicated with students, staff, and faculty at OSU to ensure materials were prepared for each training. This increased my organizational skills and responsibility for deadlines. Each week, I also attended staff meetings, and bi-weekly internship meetings with the assistant director. Staff meetings helped me gain a vast knowledge about what each staff member was accomplishing at the program, and I also had reports prepared for each one. Internship meetings involved knowledge building around suicide prevention, helping with projects, and preparation for leading events. 

The event I felt made the most impact and had the most influence on me was the annual Out of the Darkness Walk on April 5th. I was granted the opportunity to livestream the walk for Ohio State’s branch campuses and all those who couldn’t participate in the walk, but attended the event. I felt like I was able to be a leader in presenting the walk, and I finally experienced the feeling of myself making a difference for others. I also represented the program at their other spring semester events, which are the Involvement Fair and RUOK? Day. At the Involvement Fair it is the first leadership opportunity for interns. We spread information about what the program is working to accomplish and how students can become involved in suicide prevention efforts. RUOK? Day is where many different student organizations, Statewide organizations, and companies working on suicide prevention efforts come together as resources for people at OSU. I not only got to work the table for our program, but I also got the opportunity to network with others about what could come next for me in suicide prevention. 

Interns are also expected the complete a legacy project at the end of their experience to leave something influential with the program and relate to the intern’s passion for suicide prevention. I was drawn to the idea of spreading information on what the program does for our Ohio State Community because I had never heard of it previous to the internship. All of the staff at OSUSPP work diligently every day to gain more insight through research on how they can help students, veterans, graduate students, and faculty. Without their efforts, would have fewer prevention techniques, fewer REACH trainings, and fewer lives would be saved. I produced a short video that showcased what everyone at OSUSPP accomplishes daily and their passion for participating in the Out of the Darkness Walk. This project taught me about marketing techniques and the precision behind producing a short video. I achieved significant growth in the skills of responsibility, empathy, leadership, and attention to detail.

4. This opportunity was so influential for me and my future because it helped me experience two different career paths I may take on my journey all at once. This program is also a business. It involves daily office work and administration to create the difference of advocating for those on campus. I am a psychology major and a business minor. I have an interest in organizational psychology and operations management, but I also have an interest in mental health counseling. The events gave me an idea of what it feels like to help others in need of help in the mental health field. The daily office work helped me get a feel for what it may feel like working in a job like human resources. Though, this internship did not bring me to a decision on a career choice, it did help me get an idea of which job I might be good at. The most important thing I realized is that leadership is needed and is a critical skill to hold for either career choice. I am proud of what I accomplished, and I do feel like a stronger leader now that I have ended my internship. I get to bring the skills I learned at OSUSPP to my next internship experience as a Human Resources Partner Intern. I will always have a passion for suicide prevention efforts as well, and I will be a part of Ohio State’s PROS next year to continue to make a difference for those at OSU.