Looking back at my time as a NACA Summer Intern
Now that my NACA summer internship at Towson University has
been over for a month, I decided I should compile some final thoughts on the
experience.
Granted, I have shared a lot over the course of the summer
through my Twitter account and my video blog, which you can view here! Yet,
there was much more to my experience than what was shared on social media.
Note: You can easily watch this handy dandy video—my last of the
summer—that showcases some of my final thoughts and images from my summer
experience.
Baltimore: The Charm
City
When I got into Baltimore, I met up with my fellow intern
colleague, Kristen Vega (@KristenVega4), who is from the University of Miami
(Ohio), and she is a fireball! So much energy. I love it. So we got along from
the get-go. And certainly made the most of our summer.
Here we are showing some love to the steps of the Supreme Court in DC. |
Being able to spend the summer alongside someone as
passionate about student affairs as her was quite invigorating. We both came
from the west coast originally, so life in Baltimore definitely took some
adjustments.
However, that didn’t stop us from exploring the city
together and on our own throughout our stay.
By a stroke of luck and genius on behalf of our supervisor,
we were housed on the University of Baltimore-Maryland campus, which placed us
in the middle of the city! It was a wonderful location for getting the
Baltimore city experience.
I ate this huge apple turnover. All of it. |
Yet, Baltimore is very charming—hence, its nickname, the Charm City. There are some absolutely beautiful villages and neighborhoods. AND THE FOOD! I loved running though the town, exploring and adventuring through a nearly endless tour of American culture.
Okay—enough about Baltimore.
Onto some of the lasting experiences from the internship
itself
Towson University
Through all the chaos of arriving to a new institution, I
came to recognize very early on that Towson University is a really neat
institution. There are a lot of young professionals with very eager goals for
their organizations. Every administrator and staff member has been incredibly
warm and eager for fresh blood to be in the mix. And the initiatives on campus
are very enlivening and innovative.
John Cena and I had a lot of fun exploring the Towson campus this summer! Here is Stephens Hall. |
Towson isn’t a massive institution—around 22,000
students—yet, it is growing rapidly. It is just outside of Baltimore, so it is
still somewhat of a commuter campus. Yet, within in seven years, enrollment has
increased by 6,000 students. The campus is booming and there are many plans to
build multiple new residence halls on campus very soon. So, you know…JOBS!
Towson is one of the fastest growing mid-size public
institutions on the east coast, which allowed me to learn and work in a
different institution that is quickly becoming a powerhouse in the Mid-Atlantic.
It was refreshing to meet so many administrators who are dedicated to
progressing high education, instead of reinventing the wheel. I felt like
everyone I worked with actually gave a shit about their work and the students
that worked in our offices.
Towson Flag and Maryland Flag! |
I was granted an opportunity in Student Activities at
Towson, which was a nice return to my event planning roots during my undergrad
experience at Oregon State University. This return to form showed me that maybe
going the student activities route is possible for me!
I never really considered going the route of Student
Activities, but after learning a lot about social wellness and how the role of
activities can benefit a campus community in many ways, I was hooked.
It was great to work with the Summers at Towson initiative. Cannot wait to see how far it grows next year! |
However, I’m still not sold that it is the route I will
take—I’m still quite smitten with going the university relations route—yet,
gaining the experience and the transferrable skills will surely help me in the
long run.
Especially for job searching. Hooray. JOB SEARCHING!
Alas, I had a A LOT of fun doing student activities—as
expressed through my video blog. We did a lot of different activities this
summer and I’m so glad I was able to facilitate a fun summer for the Towson
students this summer.
Took many students to see the Orioles play baseball! |
NOTE: If you haven’t
followed along with my Twitter or Instagram action, we put on so many events
this summer! I have included many pictures throughout this blog, and here are
the posters for both months that was had events this summer!
Supervisor!
My supervisor was a badass named, Dirron Allen. He has been
at Towson for nine years and has climbed his way up being the Director of
Student Activities. Dirron is very straightforward—yet, chill. Dirron was equal
parts motivational and challenging.
And I definitely feel that he shaped me a lot this summer.
He was honest, up front, and genuine.
He, and the rest of his staff, made sure I never felt alone
in this job.
I was supported the entire way.
I recognize this isn’t a common experience for most folks in
summer internships, so for that, I am grateful to have had such a positive
experience.
So thankful to have had the support of such a brilliant role model of supervision this summer. |
Dirron was more than willing to answer my blunt questions
about the landscape of race and gender in higher education. He was also very
open throughout my time at Towson when discussing the realities of navigating higher
education politics. I am thankful that I had such an open and honest supervisor
to learn from this summer.
Dirron, practices
the Building Blocks of Social Wellness in his supervision style—or, “The Nine”
as he calls them. These nine facets comprise his personal version of Odidson’s
Interpersonal Wellness System Model, where fun is simply the byproduct of
student activities work. Dirron feels the worth of student activities is proven
to Towson University through dedication to social wellness—so these nine
fundamentals serve as the building blocks for his department to create a solid
foundation as leaders and agents of change.
Final thoughts
Do a summer internship.
Especially if you are serious about entering the realm of student affairs and/or higher education.
I honestly went through NACA because
it was the least invasive of the three internship programs (others: NODA &
ACUHO-I). I also knew I didn’t want to do orientation work or housing over the
summer, so being able to do student activities for the summer certainly shaped
my experience quite a bit!
Baltimore on the Fourth of July was magical. |
This summer—my first summer away from home—was highly
valuable in a number of ways. Having a mental break from school was nice
because year one of graduate school was certainly a mind-blowing in a number of
ways. It was also quite freeing to be on my own with my recently acquired knowledge.
Living in Baltimore was definitely a social experiment for
me. I’m not a big fan of cities; however, Baltimore was a great warm up to city
life for me. Being in a completely different social environment opened my eyes
to many alarming issues that are still incredibly rampant throughout our
country—namely poverty, racism, and ridiculous elitism.
Finally, working at an institution like Towson was very
refreshing because it had an ACTUAL diverse population of students. This was a
nice change of pace for me since I’ve only worked at/attended predominantly
white institutions (PWI). My perspective was changed in hearing many stories
from student populations I would’ve never had access to if I hadn’t have this
internship.
John Cena didn't want to leave. |
Back to Mass!
All in all, leaving Massachusetts for the summer and being
somewhere other than Oregon for the summer made this one of the most
challenging and exhilarating summers of my life.
And now I am eager to return to work and class at UMass with
a fresh set of eyes. I am ready to approach this year with revitalized
excitement for the challenges in my way as I attempt to create some new
research, as well as perform in an unconventional assistantship.
I get to pilot a series of mental/physical/sexual health
marketing campaigns for the Center for Health Promotion this year. That should
be fun! I also get to help in the development of the UMass Social Media policy
committee as well as Social Media Wellness Week—so, needless to say, I am
stoked to create some new things this year!
Hope you enjoyed this! And I hope it helps paint a picture
of the experience of one #SAGrad during a summer internship!
Best of luck with the upcoming year!
LET’S DO THIS!
-Craig.
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