Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

I’m Part of the Team!

The best part of my internship so far is the sense of belonging. Last week, I was asked to join a short meeting of the whole Development Department in Jewish Vocational Service, in which I am currently interning. As a memorable event during the middle of my internship, there are two highlights during this meeting that I would like to share.

The meeting started off with a round of updates from each member of the department. After hearing everyone’s accomplishments in June, my supervisor also insisted that I should report what I did during the month to the whole team. Caught off guard, I quickly organized my thoughts and told the team about my data cleaning projects and database training sessions. Although this moment was a bit awkward due to my unprepared responses, I still felt proud because I was not only considered as a mere intern helping with various small projects, but also a team member who made contributions to the operation of the whole team. This single moment lifted my spirit and made me want to devote more effort to my daily work.

Another highlight of the meeting is everyone’s sharing of a “mission moment” – one’s most unforgettable and touching moments with a clients or donor in this month. Through all the “mission moments” that the team members shared, I learned a lot about JVS. On the one hand, these stories showed me many responsibilities of the department that I didn’t know previously: although people in the Development department mainly deal with digital files and written communications, face-to-face interactions with donors and clients are also crucial to the stewardship practices; such interactions enables Development staff to better understand how the donations are used in different programs of JVS and, in term, to persuade the donors more effectively. On the other hand, the “mission moments” indicates how people-oriented JVS is: JVS not only make sure that the whole organization is doing good to people but also enable all employees to think about individual clients and donors. This quick glance of the organizational culture from the “mission moments” really amazed me.

I am very grateful that the whole Development department welcomed me to join the meeting. As I have already volunteered for around a hundred hours for this department, I am happy to see my effort being recognized and appreciated. Now, instead of feeling like I am dealing with numerous small assignments every day, I feel like I am contributing to a greater goal shared with all members of the team.