Hillel First Year Engagement Internship

During my junior year, I acted as the First Year Engagement Intern at Hillel UW. In this position, I was the direct contact point and support person for freshmen at Hillel. I engaged with freshmen in a variety of ways, all with the goal of helping them be active and feel welcome at Hillel. I deeply enjoyed this experience. Getting to mentor and connect with such a diverse group of wonderful freshmen was incredibly fun, and involving them at Hillel felt like I was really making a positive impact on them.

This experience also helped me realize how much I enjoy community building and mentorship. I'd always appreciated the role robust communities play in improving my own life and experiences, but taking an active role in community development was incredibly enjoyable and meaningful for me. In this position, I was responsible for connecting with first years, meeting with them one-on-one and helping them feel comfortable and welcome at Hillel. I also planned and hosted events specifically targeted towards them, providing a place for them to be in community. This role also positioned me as a mentor for these students, where I was able to form relationships with them, advise them, and be a listening ear when they were dealing with problems. I realized how much I enjoy being a mentor. I feel very fulfilled when I'm able to help others feel comfortable, when I'm able to teach them and guide them through difficult situations. I am eager to explore more mentorship and community-development opportunities in my future. Particularly, I'm interested in exploring these opportunities within my chosen professional field. I'm majoring in Biology and plan to pursue a career in medicine or research, so I know there will be plenty of areas for mentorship in my career. In both the medical and research fields, there's a large reliance on training and mentorship by more experienced professionals, so I'm excited to be able to participate in those relationships, both as a mentee and a mentor. Within the rest of my college career, I'd like to focus on participating in and building out the Biology and STEM community I am a part of, perhaps through tutoring or being a Peer Facilitator for a Biology class. Beyond that, I intend to continue to attend Biology departmental events and engage with my peers in order to help maintain and develop the community within the Biology Department at UW. My experience as the First Year Engagement Intern at Hillel showed me how rewarding it is to help foster community and act as a mentor, and I look forward to pursuing those roles in the Biology Department at UW and in my career.