UMBC alumni connect with fellow Retrievers through Baltimore-based summer internships

Each year several hundred UMBC students take advantage of the summer months to explore careers related to their majors, expand their knowledge and skills, and learn more about themselves through internships. The advancement of UMBC alumni as non-profit, corporate, and public service leaders as the university approaches its 50th birthday has added another layer to those internship opportunities: a chance for current students to work directly with alumni mentors.

One local nonprofit hosted four UMBC social work students focused on elder services in Baltimore communities. LaToya Solomon ‘17, Emily Preston ‘17, Jessica Praybe ‘17, and Sabrina Hall ‘18, interned with elder services coordinator Lauren Averella ‘11, social work, at Cities for All Ages, a Civic Works program where Averella also interned as a UMBC undergraduate.

Solomon heard about the program from a professor, and Preston, Praybe and Hall learned of the internship opportunity while attending a panel organized by Phi Alpha, the social work honor society at UMBC. Averella was one of the panelists and they were impressed with what she said about her work in Baltimore.

“I was really looking for a way to get my foot in the door, and I’m not sure which social work path I want to someday work in, so I wanted to try working with older adults,” explained Hall.

Cities for All Ages typically hosts two UMBC interns each summer, but Averella says this year’s candidates were so strong in their interviews that the organization decided to expand the number of positions to accept four. She has been impressed by their growth and the results of their work this summer.

Working as community organizers, the interns planned community events, visited neighborhoods around the city to share resources, and wrote monthly newsletters sent to an audience of 1,500. The students shared that budgeting, soliciting donations to support community events, and meeting deadlines were the most challenging aspects of the internship, but working with clients proved tremendously rewarding.

In addition to guiding the interns through their summer experience, Averella encouraged the students to shadow leaders in different roles, working on a broad range of projects. Averella says, “I encourage everyone to try everything,” to move beyond their comfort zones and get a sense of the range of career possibilities.

Read the full article: http://news.umbc.edu/umbc-alumni-connect-with-fellow-retrievers-through-baltimore-based-summer-internships/