I’ve settled into my new place, found the grocery stores and figured out the TriMet system (at least my routes) without any major hiccups. I knew adjusting to a new city wouldn’t be easy but I was more worried about the transition from student to intern. I told myself there was no point in being nervous (it didn’t help, I still was) and that I would go in to work each day and do the best work I could do and learn as much as I possibly could. It’s only my second week but I’ve learned a lot already.
My favorite aspect of my internship is getting to learn more about the nonprofit world. It’s been great to see all the different parts of the organization and how they work together. I saw this first hand when I sat in on a meeting the development team was having with an email marketing specialist. He had some great tips about segmenting our donor list, as well as, when and how often to reach out to different audiences. I was fascinated with the way each team member was involved and took into account their respective specialties. The program systems specialist would ask questions that I could barely comprehend and the database assistant could come up with a response to almost any question asked when it came to facts and figures.
I learned so much from sitting in on that meeting and was thankful that my boss had invited me to do so. My PDXSX experience is off to a great start. I look forward to learning more about the non-profit world and taking advantage of every opportunity that presents itself.
Shannon Sloan
shannonsloan 