Peer Network Enagement Intern
What: This year I am a Peer Network Engagement Intern (PNEI) for Hillel at Virginia Tech. Hillel is a Jewish organization at Virginia Tech. Our job is to be a liaison between the Virginia Tech community and Hillel programming. We try to engage Jewish students who are not currently active in Hillel to come to events or services we plan. As a part of the internship have to actively seek out Jewish students at Virginia Tech and try to talk and motivate them to discover more of their Jewish journey. In addition to engagement we also plan events for Hillel and our engagees. Right now we are working on a pottery painting party. So we are planning this event from the ground up and need to get all the supplies, market for the party, and lastly host this soon to be successful event.
So What: There is a total of five interns and we all work together to plan events. But the engagement of new students and seeking out their Jewish journeys is individual. This internship has really gotten me out of my comfort zone and forced me to interact with new people. It is challenging at first going up to someone random and asking if they want to go to some Jewish event that you have planned. It’s shown me that being shy and reserved won't get you anywhere and won't allow you to meet the people you do and interact the way you want. Once I successfully meet a new person and go with them to an event I feel very accomplished. I have tried to make a positive impact on that person’s life. I have to take the initiative to reach out and find these potential students to engage. I have to be organized and respectful of their time and work around their schedule. It has forced me to carry on conversations with people and just be open and available for people to talk to. Also when planning events in the group of the other interns I try to get things done in a timely manner and keep us organized. For this latest project I took the initiative to make the poster for the event and created a Facebook group. I think taking the initiative in steps like these has grown my leadership. This internship has taught me that leadership isn’t al about being in charge of people but its also being leader in regard to taking initiative and putting yourself out there for others.
Poster I made for our enagement event.
PNEI "selfie" after we talked about our mission statement for the semester.
Now What: After this internship I have learned that I love interacting with people and being their own personal leader in their Jewish journey. Because of this I have applied to jobs related to this after graduation. This internship has really helped me develop as a person. I thought I was a leader and said I was to others but now I can confidently say I am a leader. I have learned many of the necessary steps to become effective and work with other people. How to manage my time to accommodate to others while still maintaining my other obligations I have to complete. Before about two years ago during Hokie Camp I was very nervous to talk to new people and when left alone with the group I really struggled, now in this internship I actually look forward to talking to and meeting new people. I am much more confident in my abilities and myself. I used to look at leadership as solely authoritative and now I see it more as a blend not just leading over people but as more of being a reference for others.
Here is a link if you want to learn more about Hillel at Virginia Tech: http://www.hillelatvirginiatech.org/#!home/mainPage