Of the many things I was looking forward to about DukeEngage Cape Town, I was excited to have my first ever internship. I was assigned to intern at the Women’s Legal Center, which meant I could finally get a taste of a career in law and women’s issues, both of which I plan on pursuing after college. When my program was cancelled, the loss of this opportunity frustrated me because I doubted any remote internship that I managed to find could replace this experience. It would just be another summer stuck in Spokane with no professional experience to inform my career aspirations.
My first week interning for WomenNC proved me wrong. I am stuck in Spokane and I won’t have exposure to the field of law, but I am managing deadlines, making decisions, researching questions and passing answers along to my supervisor – basically I have a whole lot of responsibility. And, for the first time in my life, it feels like my actions on a day-to-day basis have consequences for someone other than myself. I am charged with finding the right social media management platform – if I pick the wrong one, will it waste WNC’s money? I post on Instagram and Facebook and think I know what’s considered appropriate content, but what if I forget to put on my WNC hat before posting and say something that reflects my personal views more than it does WNC’s? While this new kind of responsibility is a little nerve-racking, it’s also exciting. I am putting thought and effort in my work because I don’t want to create a problem for WNC.