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‘Intern’ is my favorite title
For those of you who have read the Banner Graphic regularly for the past three years, you may have seen my name in a few articles. I have held many titles through the articles you have read: Girl Scout, Miss Putnam County and my personal favorite, intern.
Over the last three years, I have had the honor of working for the Putnam County Community Foundation as an intern. Through these years I have seen staffing changes, board changes and new community leaders and donors walk in the doors.
While I have seen these things, PCCF has also seen me grow as a leader and as an individual.
The impact the people in the Foundation family have left on me is immeasurable. Three years ago, when I called Dean Gambill about scholarships, I didn’t know what his offer would entail. On the phone that day, he asked me if I would be interested in an internship opportunity. I immediately said “Yes” and asked for more information. A week later, I received an email from Neysa Meyer asking to set up an interview.
I left USI in Evansville that Friday to drive home and meet with Neysa, then communications director, and Brandon Wells, then executive director. I walked into that interview not knowing what the outcome would be.
To my surprise, I left knowing that in the following May I would start my internship with the Community Foundation. I was nervous and a little unsure of my decision, but after a week I knew I had made the right decision. Today is my last day and I feel the same way I did three years ago in August — a little sad but excited to return to USI to finish my degree.
Three years ago, I believed my last opportunity with the Community Foundation would be as an intern that first summer. I now know that no matter how hard they may have tried, they couldn’t get rid of me before I became ineligible to stay any longer.
I have worked on many projects through my three years with PCCF, some more exciting than others. I have learned more about event planning, invitations and data analysis than I thought possible. I have helped connect scholarship recipients and donors together. My favorite project has been working with local educators on the new Kids Make Change initiative.
Today, I know my journey with the Community Foundation is far from finished. I don’t know what is in store for the Community Foundation next, but I know my journey doesn’t end here.
As I head into my senior year of college at USI, I go in determined to make the Foundation family proud. I know my home will forever be here, in Putnam County, with the Community Foundation. While my next steps are still being finalized, I will graduate in December with a degree in elementary education and a concentration in science teaching.
If you haven’t had the chance to connect with the Putnam County Community Foundation, I challenge you to do so. Whether you choose to make a contribution to a fund, volunteer on a committee or simply come in for coffee, the Community Foundation welcomes you.
You never know where your decision will take you. It may just take you right here to the lobby of the Putnam County Community Foundation.
Thank you, Putnam County, for the countless opportunities you have given me and for supporting me in ways I never thought possible. And thank you to the PCCF family, especially Neysa, Julie, Jenny, Sarah and Dean, for helping me grow into the young adult I am today, one who is prepared to take on the next journey in life with a smile on her face and a team behind her, ready to watch her achieve her goals.