TeenLife Spotlight: One Student's Summer Internship
Thursday, August 05, 2010
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Posted by: Hilary Dobel
A Summer Internship in Boston's Chinatown
By Natalie Ornell
I spent
the summer interning in the Development Department at the Boston Chinatown
Neighborhood Center (BCNC), a non-profit organization located near the Tufts
Medical Center orange line stop. For 41 years, BCNC has been the vital
link energizing the Asian-immigrant and Asian-American community of greater
Boston. It meets the needs of this
community by providing essential services that ease integration into American
society, while preserving a rich cultural identity. BCNC is where immigrant and U.S. cultures converge, and
where the community accesses exemplary programs in child care, youth
development, adult education, recreation, arts and enrichment, and family
services. Over 80% of the families
BCNC serves are low income and recent immigrants.
Natalie volunteers during BCNC's Open House.
I
acquired my fulltime summer internship at BCNC through the Lumpkin Institute at
Wellesley College. Often colleges
connect students with internships at select organizations for which you can
apply so make sure to research these opportunities early and spend time writing
thoughtful application essays that highlight your interest and knowledge of the
program. In addition, make sure
that you clearly articulate why you want to work at the organization you are
applying for if you are selected for an interview.
During
my time at BCNC I had the opportunity to tutor an Adult Education student in
English on a weekly basis after I received training, learned about writing and editing
grants in addition to grant research, and learned how to write press releases
and press advisories which were published in local media. Additionally, I designed and wrote the
organization’s monthly eNews and attended special events representing BCNC. The internship enriched my
understanding of the non-profit sector and the skills I gained will certainly
benefit me in my future work.
If
you are interested in non-profit work, English as a second language teaching,
or helping the Asian immigrant and Asian American community in Boston through
volunteer work or internships, Chinatown offers many agencies like BCNC that
serve the community and could use your help!
. Natalie stands outside the BCNC.
Chinatown is known
to many for its restaurant industry, but the community offers much more. Through my experiences interning at
BCNC and writing for Sampan (the Asian American Civic Association’s biweekly
community newspaper) I have had the privilege of observing this vibrant
community from a closer perspective.
While I have noticed many things about Chinatown as a physical space, it
is the people in Chinatown and their stories that I have spent the most time
absorbing this summer. Grant writing has been a key tool that has given
me a foundation to base my observations of Chinatown. Writing and editing
grants for BCNC has allowed me to read detailed analysis and statistics about
Chinatown and its residents.
Obtaining skills in grant writing is a valuable asset, so make sure to
express your interest in writing grants if you intern at a non profit.
Through
community cultural events like the Dragon Boat Festival and Chinatown Main
Street Festival, conversations with locals, and through local political
meetings, I have gained some insight into what people in Chinatown care about
and how they seek to improve the community. Through my internship and outside
involvement in the Chinatown community I learned that Chinatown maintains
strong local leadership with important connections to Mayor Menino and the City
of Boston, a history of philanthropy and relationships with local corporations
like State Street, institutions and schools like the Josiah Quincy School
deeply invested in the community, and residents who work hard to succeed and
make better lives for their families and children, often through
sacrifice.
Issues that matter
most to the Chinatown community are affordable housing (low income and
moderate), civic spaces for the elderly and youth, bilingual ballots which are
now in the process of being passed, the formation of a branch library, public
safety, keeping streets clean and the community green in the face of pollution,
and preserving Chinatown’s cultural heritage in the face of developers who seek
to gentrify the community.
When interning in
any workplace, especially at a non-profit organization, try your best to
immerse yourself in the community or in the lives of the clients your
organization serves. The
more involved you become, the more you will understand and appreciate the
population your organization is serving.
Natalie Ornell is a former TeenLife intern and a rising junior at Wellesley College. She is interested in East Asian Studies, Journalism, and English.
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