All in all, my academic internship experience was not what I expected it to be. I suppose that as a nonprofit organization intern, I expected to be doing more community work with people. The reality was that there were only 8 staff members, and I never left the office. I had hoped to be doing more work directly advancing the mission of Susan G. Komen Chicago, but I spent the majority of my time asking for money via emails. Of course, funding is a vital resource for nonprofit organizations, but I had hoped to gain more experiences outside of the office. 

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One thing I discovered about myself during my academic internship experience was how much I enjoy working with people. As a social work major, I thrive through human interaction and direct practice. My internship experience at Susan G. Komen Chicago was largely administrative, and I feel like that drained me. Of course, I knew that as a development/special events intern, I wouldn’t be doing direct practice, but I had hoped to have met more people during my internship experience. One critical learning moment during my academic internship experience this semester was learning how to get along with people in the workplace. Establishing boundaries was a lesson I learned during my internship experience. I also learned about the importance of accepting and appreciating constructive criticism and feedback. Though I don’t always agree with the feedback I receive, I gathered a lot of understanding about how important it is to accept it. I learned this from the class reading “Thanks for the Feedback” by Douglas Stone and Sheila Hein. I also learned a lot about the importance of understanding an organization’s background and mission before starting an internship. I read about this in the article “The Successful Internship” by Switzer and King. Another example of integrative learning during my internship were the parallels I was able to draw between my internship and my class on philanthropy. Learning about some of the good and bad practices within philanthropic organizations allowed me to utilize a critical lens when viewing the practices of my internship site. I know that it has helped me to develop an understanding of how philanthropy works in current society. 

 

My experience with my site supervisor wasn’t overwhelmingly bad or good. At times, I felt talked down to by my site supervisor, and at times I felt respected. Some days were better than others at my internship, which I think can be said for everyone in an internship. At times I felt appreciated for the work I was completing, and at times I felt unseen. I think feeling appreciated at an internship is especially important when the internship is unpaid. Overall, the most important lesson I learned during my internship was how to utilize self-validation, because some people might not always recognize or appreciate your hard work.