I am a junior at Hillsdale College pursuing two Bachelors of Art in Mathematics and Art. I have always been passionate about politics and wanted an internship that combined that passion with my two majors.
During my time at the Institute, my supervisors gave me opportunities to use both the logical side of the math degree and the creative side of my art degree.
Before I started my internship, I knew that IWP would help me expand my professional experience, but I did not realize how the community would impact my life and grow me as a person.
Concerning professional experience, I worked at IWP as a Commutations and Events intern. Overall, IWP trusts its interns with real projects and expects excellence.
Over the course of the summer, I wrote articles, reports, marketing materials, social media informational graphics, and mass marketing emails. The staff tasked me with processing and editing YouTube videos for their official channel. I further aided the team with data entry in various programs.
I assisted in the event process for open houses, lectures, book signing events, and webinars. I had the opportunity to understand the inner workings of professional event planning and experienced the behind-the-scenes execution of the events.
During the weekly marketing meetings, interns presented what projects they were working on to the rest of the team every session to get feedback, support, and guidance. The team allowed and encouraged me to pitch ideas and to think outside of the box, despite being an intern.
While the technical skills I have learned during my internship are invaluable, IWP stands out to me because of the community of people working there. Professors, staff members, and students went out of their way to get to know me and treated me as a valued team member. It is evident the minute you walk into IWP that the staff supports each other and enjoys being around each other.
The environment at the Institute cannot be manufactured or recreated.
Over the past three months, I have grown professionally and personally, thanks to the individuals at IWP.