“To be fair, I got what I asked for; a new environment – I just didn’t know it would be from the comfort of my own home. “
When you are applying for a job, you usually think about what your experience would be like in a new environment. After working at Mass General Hospital for the last two summers, I made it a goal to land a job somewhere new before going into junior year – That’s what I thought at first.
I wondered what the people and working at Boston Partners In Education would be like…in an office setting, of course. To be fair, I got what I asked for; a new environment – I just didn’t know it would be from the comfort of my own home.
Aside from the unexpected news that work would take place virtually, it was to my surprise that going remote wasn’t such a bummer after all. From the minute I hopped on the many zoom calls taken on the first day, I noticed how much the staff wanted us MLK Scholars to enjoy our six weeks and it felt very welcoming.
Working at Boston Partners In Education came with many projects such as event planning, flyering, and recruitment. I found each of those skills pretty useful for my future career path as I got to see how each played into my interests. My favorite part of the whole summer was using my graphic design skills for making flyers. In total, I’ve made about ten flyers (not including drafts.)
I loved being able to be creative with posters and social media posts and found the marketing part fun. Our six weeks included weekly check ins and staff 1-1 meetings, which was nice getting to know everyone. Towards the end of the summer, we MLK Scholars got to speak with board members and received helpful advice on resumes and cover letters.
As for the other MLK Scholars, Karla and Sitnour, it was nice having them as my fellow co-workers. Throughout our time together, we had stayed on calls just talking and laughing. It was clear to see that we each had very different personalities and interests but that made things more enjoyable. I think we made a great team as we were able to complete our tasks collaboratively.
Overall, summer of 2020 did not go as planned. I never thought that I’d ever work remotely, especially as a summer intern. It was a little hard not being able to talk to everyone at the office face-to-face, and yet everyone in the Boston Partners in Education made the best of it and I can gladly say that I enjoyed my summer as an MLK Scholar.