For several years Sweetland has hired undergraduates enrolled in our Peer Writing Consultant program or our Minor in Writing as summer interns, and these students carry out a variety of projects that are helpful to the Center and give the interns valuable experience. Our interns this past summer were recent graduates Jamie Monville and Kaitlin Schuler. Both graduated in May 2015, Jamie with a B.A. in English and a minor in writing and Kaitlin with a B.A. in English and minors in writing and Judaic Studies. Jamie was also a Sweetland Peer Writing Consultant. Their key projects this summer focused on the Peer Writing Center (PWC) and the Minor in Writing (MiW).
For the PWC, Jamie and Kaitlin contacted multilingual students who had used Sweetland’s resources and set up video interviews to talk about their experiences with writing as a multilingual student. Using this footage, the two created three videos: one to promote the PWC to other multilingual students, one of advice from the interviewees to other multilingual students, and one from the interviewees to faculty members. These videos appear on the Sweetland website and will be used at the international student orientations, so that more students can learn about Sweetland’s services for multilingual students.
For the MiW, Jamie and Kaitlin focused their energy on the language for the MiW webpage and on a promotional video for the Minor. The previous website language was quite formal and sounded more like an institutional document than something aimed at potential undergraduate Minors. The two reworked the language to appeal more to students and added an FAQ section. For the video, Jamie and Kaitlin contacted former and current Minors and set up video interviews, similar to the multilingual student video project. With the help of Sweetland Communications Coordinator Aaron Valdez, the interns created a promotional video for the MiW compiled from the experiences of their fellow Minors, in order to let potential applicants learn more about the program.
As they move on to the next chapters in their lives, Jamie and Kaitlin both attest that the internship experience has given them valuable experience, especially with shooting video and conducting interviews. These experiences will serve them well, regardless of where they go next. They also feel privileged to have had the opportunity to give back to a program that has given so much to them.