A Summer Experience to Remember
2010 Summer Internship Program
For the fourth year in a row, Neighborhood Centers provided real career experience and character building opportunities for local students through its summer internship program. Working in accounting, human resources, marketing and communications, facilities, management, community research, senior services, community centers, tax centers, and Head Start centers, the 20 interns spent their summers in a way that proved beneficial for themselves and the community.
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Intern Madhu Singh conducts
a mind fitness class at
Pleasant Village Senior Center. |
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The eight-week internship gives students from throughout Houston new opportunities to thrive in a diverse environment, share experiences, and help others. Whether preparing for the new school year at a Head Start center, teaching seniors brain fitness, or planning a community event, interns gained knowledge as specific as the departments in which they work and as broad as life itself.
Given a chance to work in a SUNNY FUTURES Healthy Start center, intern ShaQuita Sam delights in her assignment, "I want to be an OB/GYN nurse, so working on health programs for mothers and children is perfect for me." From supporting students who are well on their career paths to inspiring those just beginning to explore their career options, Neighborhood Centers’ internship teaches the inner workings of a human services organization as well as valuable lessons about work ethic and character.
On Thursday afternoons, the interns gathered for professional workshops led by Human Resources Coordinator, Joe Paul. Paul made sure that the interns left feeling happy and empowered, often motivating them with poetry and inspirational quotes. "The one who wins, is the one who thinks he can," is Paul’s favorite mantra.
This year’s internship competition yielded three top presenters, Raymond Thomas, Lingyi Peng, and Sharon Moscoso, who came in first, second and third, respectively, for their impressive performances. Although only the top three received prizes, all twenty interns gained something more valuable - a summer’s worth of knowledge and experience that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
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