I am going into my fourth and final year as a Sociology major and Communications minor. My academic and professional interests revolve around communicating with different communities through different forms of media. This is why an internship at Special Olympics Canada (SOC) appealed to me. SOC is a charitable organization devoted to enhancing the lives of Canadians with an intellectual or developmental disability through sport. They provide year-round athletics programs for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Apart from sports, SOC aims to tackle inactivity, isolation, and injustices faced by people with IDD as well as promote inclusive health, unified sports, and inclusion.
As a communications and research intern, my learning objectives were to gain practical experience, learn the ins-and-outs of a communications position, and become accustomed to an office workplace environment. Having completed my internship, I am confident that I successfully achieved each of these three goals. Through social media-based communications, I was able to apply theories from Writing the Internet (WCOM 317) to Instagram and Facebook posts shared on the organization's feed. I saw firsthand how to communicate professionally with the press in a way that is mutually beneficial. It was also important to me to feel accustomed to an office environment so that I could feel confident engaging with colleagues both on a professional and casual level, which I achieved through participating in workplace events, like all-staff breakfasts.
As an intern, my primary responsibilities were five-fold. I worked on research archiving in a large project that involved organizing SOC’s research files, itemizing them via an Excel spreadsheet, and structuring them into a folder system to ensure easy accessibility and usability. I designed an end-of-grant reporting template that allows researchers to put their findings in an easy-read format, uniform to other projects SOC funds, which will be posted on their website. Another large project I worked on was promoting Dr. Meghann Lloyd’s research on diabetes for the Special Olympics. Her study found a 15% reduction rate in diabetes diagnoses for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who participate in Special Olympics. I developed engaging social media posts and wrote a plain language summary and website landing page. I identified relevant health awareness dates, created social media graphics, and wrote promotional captions. I also provided general support for the health and marcomms departments, including slideshow editing and development, and background communications like notetaking.
The highlight of my internship was being able to see the behind-the-scenes of video-based knowledge translation products, including a news broadcast for the diabetes research paper and a voice-over animation video. These were unique elements of communications that can only be learned through an internship-type position, rather than in a classroom. I was able to talk to different types of communications professionals outside of SOC. It was a fun and educational experience.
A challenge I faced was self-doubt at the start of new tasks. It can be intimidating to be given a task you’ve never done before, and I wanted to impress my mentors at SOC. I had to learn to find a way to both take initiative and ask for clarification. I started to learn that it was good to showcase my own creativity and initiative, rather than to be given the answers.
Although I was not getting academic credit for this internship, it impacted my university experience greatly. I feel that I furthered my skills of clear writing, storytelling and communication with my superiors. This will be beneficial for my last year of undergrad because not only have my writing skills improved, but I also have the confidence to talk to my instructors about clarifications and course materials I find interesting. I believe these improvements will be reflected in my final grades, which will be advantageous when applying to graduate programs and jobs.
I would like to thank Ms. Issid for funding this internship. It covered my cost of living for the duration of the summer and travel expenses to and from Montreal and Toronto. If I had not been awarded this funding, I would not have been able to accept the position, and I would still have many questions and concerns about the field of communications. Instead, I am now inspired to complete my degree and start a communications position post-grad.
