Starting a new internship can often be scary and intimidating; I know this first hand.  I wanted to find an internship where I could learn about a work environment, use and improve work skills, and of course, have something to put on my resume.  What I found was so much more than that...

Communities In Schools Jacksonville provided me with an experience that I will never forget.  Despite that statement sounding absolutely cliché, it happens to be true.  Don't get me wrong, some days I was so tired from school and work that I just wanted to go home, it wasn't all super exciting every minute.  But, CIS showed me people who are passionate about what they do; they care about the effects of their jobs and that stuck with me.

As an English major with a Communication Studies minor, I wanted to find an internship where I could possibly write, maybe do something with social media; honestly, I didn't really know what to hope for.  CIS gave me the chance to meet people and have opportunities that I didn't think I would have.  I got to experience first hand how important the organization is to students in schools and personally see how happy some of these students were because of CIS' programs.

Creating videos, something I never thought I'd do as an English major, to show people what CIS was up to really made me feel like I was experiencing all the great events with the students: visiting NASA, adventuring around Little Talbot State Park, trick-or-treating at Merrill Lynch, and so much more.

I also got to write blogs about important national holidays for students: Computer Learning Month, Bullying Prevention Month, Dropout Prevention Month (an especially important one to the company).  CIS gave me the opportunity to really feel like my work mattered and that I was actually doing something meaningful by getting the word out.

I learned more about the organization, the people, the students, how things run, and more about me.  My time at CIS taught me more about me as a worker and even more about me as a person.  I learned that critiques are okay (it only makes it better), not everything is going to run smoothly all the time, and make sure you actually enjoy what you are doing.

I am extremely thankful for my time at CIS and can't wait to come back next semester and see what else I learn.

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