A Summer Meaningfully Spent

By Sophie Harris, Agnes Scott '24

As my first (and hopefully last) year of online school had come to a close, what I wanted most for my summer was to do something meaningful with my time, instead of sitting in the same chair I had for the past 12+ months in lockdown.

Thanks to vaccines, it started to seem as though there was a light at the end of the tunnel, so I started looking for in-person internships. I didn’t end up having to look very far: because I was a part of Agnes Scott Hillel's exec board. I was somewhat in the know of Hillel news and was told about a summer internship in marketing at Hillels of Georgia.

I immediately applied and was especially excited about getting to learn more about graphic design and work closely with another student intern. From the very beginning, I fell in love with my job and the people working around me. I learned the ins and outs of Canva (an online graphic design tool), created a keepsake book for the 2021 Hillel Heroes event, fine tuned my writing skills through the Hillel blog and a press release regarding the strategic plan, created graphics for social media, made student welcome brochures for six campus Hillels, and helped to roll out a new student giving campaign. It was an incredibly rewarding experience, especially when I got to see my work in print when it was produces for distribution to the Hillel community.

My time with Hillel influenced me to look into courses on graphic design offered at my college so I can continue to work on my new skills. Additionally, as the secretary of Agnes Scott Hillel's board, my job is to manage our social media and create promotional materials for events, so the background knowledge that I gained over the summer has already come in handy.

Even though we are still in a time of social distancing, I made lots of real connections at Hillel. I got to watch from behind the curtain staff efforts to make sure there is room for every Jewish student at Hillel, and was lucky enough to be a part of that effort. It’s clear how much this organization not only cares for its students, but its staff as well. Everyone was so welcoming and made sure my co-intern, Noah, and I knew that we were appreciated.

I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have worked at such a meaningful organization, for the friends I made, and the experience I’ve gained. I look forward to applying again next summer!