Brendon Jones: Virtual Internships can be cool too!
This year I am working with Cristo Rey San Jose in their Advancement Office. The Advancement Office focuses on many areas surrounding Cristo Rey, but it primarily serves for event coordination and grant funding. The people that I have worked with so far in my first few weeks are incredibly welcoming, hard-working, and passionate about what they do. I’m grateful that my supervisors have put me right to work, as I am already juggling the introductions of multiple projects. One of these projects is the implementation of the digital inclusive grant. Since Cristo Rey is a low-income school, many of the families do not have the privilege of being able to afford at-home Wi-Fi. This makes virtual learning for these students very difficult and affects their corporate sponsorship internships, which enables the students to pay for their education. In order to combat this, Cristo Rey is trying to distribute personal hot spots for families struggling with this issue through a grant issued by the city. I’m very grateful that I get to work on such an important project and we are trying our hardest to make this process as easy and quick as possible for the families.
Because this is currently a virtual internship, I was happily surprised that I have been able to get to know so many people already! Being someone who is naturally extroverted, I have really enjoyed getting to know new people through Cristo Rey, given that I haven’t been able to do that in the last eight months. Being a part of several committees already, I’m very fortunate to feel so welcomed in a virtual environment. Another thing that I was excited for, but still managed to surprise me, was how inspired I am to hear the stories of the students from my coworkers. Although I haven’t had the chance to meet any students yet, I’m looking forward to next year when I’m hoping to play a role in the Cristo Rey Ambassador Program, given my experience as an Ambassador at Santa Clara.
I’m looking to hone multiple skills from this experience. I’m looking forward to challenging myself in data collecting by improving my skills in Microsoft Excel and Google Spreadsheets by work with the Digital Inclusive Grant and other smaller projects. I’m also looking forward to applying my ability to juggle multiple projects to provide assistance in the process of putting on events, especially in the virtual environment. Lastly, I’m hoping to apply my experience as a Student Ambassador at SCU to the Cristo Rey student ambassador program, and I would love to, if the circumstances permit, become close with this group of students.