Morgan Pierce

PR & Strategic Communication

United Way of Greater Lafayette

How has your internship helped build skills and clarify your career goals?

I have become more confident in my passion for doing work that impacts the lives of others.

How do you apply your Liberal Arts skills in your internship?

Through working events for our United Way donors, I have been able to implement the interpersonal and communicative skills I learned through my experiences in Liberal Arts to create an awesome experience for our donors during events.

Describe your typical day as an intern.  

As an intern, I generally work with our Marketing and Communication Associate, Ebony Barrett-Kennedy, to help create and refine ideas for all the projects we are working on in the Resource Development department, specifically in the areas of Marketing and Communication. I also worked on the design of our new company website.

What was the most challenging aspect of your internship?  

The most challenging aspect of the internship was coming to realize that non-profits often don't have the time, money, and/or resources they need to do a great job on the things they're working on.

What was the most exciting thing about your role? 

The most exciting thing about my role was getting to do work and make decisions that made a permanent, lasting impact on the organization.

What surprised you most about your internship? 

I was most surprised to learn that I probably don't want to work in non-profits, but rather in the social enterprise sector.

Describe the most meaningful experience you had as an intern.

The most meaningful experience I had as an intern was building such a strong relationship with my boss, our Marketing and Communication Associate, Ebony. She became such a mentor and encourager to me. I feel that I've gained so much clarity and direction about the path of my future because of her mentorship. I also gained so much perspective and understanding about what the "face of poverty" looks like, meaning that there is no singular face or stereotype of poverty. It's a much bigger problem that anyone knows, and it's not only happening to the people you imagine who are living in cardboard boxes on the side of the street. I also learned that the people using resources from United Way are people just like me.

How did you learn about your internship?

I met our Marketing and Communication Associate, Ebony, at the Careers 4 Change Career Fair at Purdue in January and made a great connection with her, which then made me interested in the organization. Once I saw this internship opening for United Way in the CLA e-mail newsletter, I applied because I remembered Ebony.