My name is Kyo O'Connor, and since January, I’ve been an Admin & Events intern at Love Yourself Foundation, a local nonprofit focused on improving mental health through community events, the arts, and forging a sustainable connection with the planet. Pictured above is me at LYF's flagship event, Love Your Self Expression, in March.
I came to LYF as a non-traditional student who already had a background in event coordination and administration for nonprofits, so I found it really easy for me to jump in with both feet and start finding my own projects to work on. I spent a large portion of my time working on organizing our files, streamlining our event coordination, and figuring out better ways for teams to network with each other. I helped develop a schedule for the events team so that all of their monthly tasks could be completed in a way that reduced everyone’s stress, and I also provided daily self-care posts on our Slack. I handled communication with vendors and performing artists, helped set up and break down events, held down the merchandise table, and generally involved myself in anything that looked interesting to me. I was even able to make some major changes to the scripts we used to run events, such as by adding a land acknowledgement in the beginning of every event.
I was able to help organize several events with LYF, including our monthly Love Your Self Expression event, tabling at an Earth Day event held by Raow Raow at the 3rd Street Plaza, and a workshop we held for the kids at Gibson Elementary School. The event that I am most proud of, though, is the cleanup I and several other interns participated in with Get Outdoors Nevada at McCullough Hills Trailhead in Henderson (see picture below). It was really important to me that as LYF returned to hosting in-person events this year, we incorporated events that would hold up our values of being sustainable and planet-conscious. I’m really glad that we could participate in the cleanup, and I laid the groundwork for our organization’s participation in a monthly cleanup event with Wetlands Park next fall, too.
My favorite part of working with LYF was meeting the other interns–I feel like I’ve made some friends for life (or for LYF?) and I’m so glad we had the opportunity to work together. My second favorite thing was how open everyone I worked with was to new ideas, feedback, and suggestions. From the very beginning, I felt like I was truly a part of the team, and a lot of that came from how willing my mentors were to really listen to and consider my thoughts. A lot of what I accomplished could not have been done if it weren’t for their attitude of “Let’s try it and see if it works!”, and I’m really grateful to have had that experience. I think it gave me a lot more confidence in my skills and abilities, and helped me to understand what I’m bringing to the table.
One of the major things I learned working at LYF was to love myself–whether that was in taking a moment of gratitude at the beginning of every meeting, participating in sound baths, meditation, and yoga, taking a moment for a deep breath, or sharing a laugh. Everyone I worked with was totally willing to work with my schedule, even when I was really busy, and at the times when I was struggling, there was always someone willing to lend a hand. Love Yourself Foundation is more than the organization’s name–it’s their ethos, top to bottom. I was always encouraged to do what was best for my mental and physical health, even if it meant that one of my projects had to be pushed back, and that meant a lot to me. I’m so used to working for people who value my labor more than my personhood that at first it was a little bit of a shock to my system, but it really helped me understand how organizations can (and should!) be led–with a view to the people who make them up and what’s best for them.
If you’re considering an internship at LYF, here are three things you’ll need to know. One, everyone there is totally willing to help you learn anything and everything you’re interested in, but you have to speak up and ask questions. It’s really important to be your own advocate and take ownership of your experience as an intern–that’s how you’ll get the most out of this experience. Two, go to the events. If you don’t make time to go to the events, you’re really missing out on what makes LYF special–the people who are behind it and involved in it. I really found that attending the events helped me to understand exactly what I was doing and what it was all for, and seeing peoples’ smiling faces as they made memories and shared the experience was the most rewarding part. Three, this is a choose-your-own adventure story. There were times when this internship was hard for me. One month, when we were really far behind on our tasks and I was feeling pretty stressed, I named one of our fundraiser mocktail recipes “When LYF Gives You Lemons”. I was just making a joke, but it was a smash hit at our next event. I learned that you can always learn something, even if the lesson isn’t evident at the moment–and you can always choose to make the best of things, or at least find the humor in them.
Toward the end of my internship with LYF, I was asked to stay on as an administrative assistant, and I accepted the position. I look forward to organizing many more events with LYF, to seeing the organization grow, and to being a part of their growth. In the end, even though there were times when I wondered what I’d gotten myself into, I’m grateful for the experiences that I’ve had and the people I’ve met at LYF, and if I had the chance to go back and do it all again, I definitely would.
You have always been an incredible human being- but watching your growth this semester has been such a rewarding experience. I'm so excited to see what's in store for you in the future. You're a force to be reckoned with!