Interning at The Good Deed Project has been a humbling experience that has benefited me in more ways than I can count. I have always been interested in nonprofit work but never really understood what went into making a nonprofit run. While working at The Good Deed Project I have learned that a little bit of everything goes into running a nonprofit. While my official title was coordinator, I had many roles. From public speaking, to spreadsheets, and everything in between. One unexpected career benefit while working at The Good Deed was getting to meet two brothers with muscular dystrophy, which is the same condition that I have. I was able to mentor them which helped prepare me for the future career I want in helping teens and young adults with chronic disabilities.
Interning at The Good Deed Project tied into some areas of my major of studying in Psychology, but not all of them. For example, being a coordinator did not involve applied psychology, but it was useful to use social psychology, especially when communicating with clients. I would also say some useful education before starting at a nonprofit would be excel proficiency and grant writing skills. Because of the nature of nonprofit work, you have a lot of roles, so having these skills before stepping into the role would be very helpful and take some of the stress off of you by not having to learn on the job.
I am interested in still pursuing a career in the nonprofit world because while working at The Good Deed Project I could see the impact we were having on our clients. My supervisor trusted me enough to run my own project of collecting and distributing food to families in need and we were able to distribute 20,000lbs of food. A school counselor told me that the day before that a student came up to her and said her family was out of food but because of The Good Deed Project and the work that I was doing, she was going to be able to have food. Seeing the impact has really reignited my passion for helping others and makes me want to stay in the nonprofit field.
While I do not need anymore formal academic training to remain in the nonprofit field, certain training would be beneficial. At The Good Deed Project, we do home renovations, so it would be useful for me to be fully trained in all aspects of the ADA, especially since I also want to help those with disabilities further into my career. Some advice I would offer to incoming interns would be to prepare for chaos. Working at a nonprofit can be hectic because there is so much to do, but if you remain flexible you can be successful. It is also important to not beat yourself up if you make a mistake or miss a deadline. Because there is so much to do mistakes will happen and that is okay as long as you keep progressing this mission further. Overall, interning at The Good Deed Project has been such a rewarding experience and I am so glad I decided to do a COLA internship during my final semester of college.
Brianna, when we had interacted during the ceremony, you seemed more than passionate when it came down to discussing your internship. From the tone and excitement of your voice when I asked more of what it was, I was quite happy and astonished that you truly loved your experience there. Our conversation was enough for me to see how much time, work, and effort you had input into The Good Deed Project. When I was back in high school, one of our mandatory assignments was to volunteer, and your description on your tasks was very exacting to what I did when I was a teenager. Your spoken experience, and from last week's volunteering helped me rediscover the enjoyment and appreciation I had in impacting small communities, so I thank you for that motivation. I love that you shared such an amazing experience, and I do hope that the Good Deed Project continues to bloom and grow with your work!