Sarah Rose ’15

Major(s): Undeclared
Internship Site: Parent Revolution - Los Angeles, CA

The Internship:   
Education reform has interested me ever since I saw the documentary Waiting for Superman, which spurred my interest to the point where I think I want to have a career in the education reform field. My dad’s company has a foundation, so he asked them for suggestions of sites that might be good internship options. I chose to contact Parent Revolution because I was intrigued by their efforts to empower parents to fight for a quality education for their children.

Parent Revolution was so great because I had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects, such as canvassing in neighborhoods with parents, creating state guides to aid the National Team in passing the parent trigger law in other states (currently it has only been passed in three), sending out the media clips every day, writing support letters for bills, updating their Twitter and Facebook accounts, and so much more. 

The Preparation:   
Having taken Spanish in high school and then continuing it at Dickinson absolutely helped me in this internship, as many of the organizers and the parents they work with speak Spanish. Even though I am not fluent yet, I was able to follow the conversations and contribute to them as much as I could. I decided to give up trying to speak perfectly (which would stop me from speaking in the past) and just to speak, as I was understood regardless of my grammatical errors. Making a video for my Chemistry in the Kitchen class also aided me in having a basic understanding of iMovie, which I used for my parent and staff interview videos.

Making Connections:   
Everyone at my internship was helpful to me, as I learned so much from all of them and was inspired each and every day. If I had to choose one person, however, it would probably be the policy director who I interviewed for my informational interview in the Internship Notation Program. She really reinstated my interest in majoring in Public Policy and inspired me to start considering possibly going to law school. I really appreciate the time she took to talk to me and the invaluable lessons I learned from her.

The Future:  
This internship has solidified my desire to do my part to make a difference in education reform so that all children will have access to a quality education that prepares them for their future. Additionally, it demonstrated the type of workplace culture that I would ideally like to work in. I can definitely see myself potentially working at Parent Revolution in the future, as I love the work they do and their approach to reforming education.

Tips from Sarah: 
Look for internships in areas that truly interest you, not ones that will solely look good on a resume. From my experience, when you are actually interested, you tend to dive in more and engage yourself, resulting in a better, more fulfilling experience at the internship. Additionally, make sure that the internship actually has work for you to do. When I intern, I know I always want to be busy with tasks to complete, which is exactly how it was for me at Parent Revolution.


*To find out more about how to get an internship, make an appointment with a career counselor. Just call the Career Center at 717-245-1740 or stop by Biddle House.