Internship reflection from Dawson Owen

Back in January, when I started my internship with Uncover KC, I had a lot of expectations and ideas of the things I’d be doing. However, I soon learned that when you work with a company that connects so many people, there’s a good chance you’ll be doing something new every day.

Of course I had the usual daily work such as sending and receiving emails, contacting business owners and gathering information to fill out spreadsheets. But beyond that, I was always getting new projects thrown my way.

In four months of working with Brent, Lauren, and Jenn I was able to complete a bunch of tasks: recruiting nearly 600 volunteers for the Liberty Hospital Half Marathon; completing a digital non-profit map; scheduling a service day for 300 Northland CAPS students; setting up a photo shoot to help sell UKC T-Shirts, and completing various templates for service projects.

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Out of all of those amazing experiences, there’s still one thing that broadened my skill set more than other project — having the opportunity to job shadow Brent, Lauren, and Jenn each and every day. In the past four months, I have built upon my professionalism by simply watching how my coworkers dealt with real world projects and issues.

Don’t get me wrong, volunteering to stand outside for six hours in freezing weather for a marathon was quite the experience. But I learned so much more seeing firsthand how Brent runs the company inside and out.

As a senior who is graduating in less than two weeks, it can be very easy to become distracted and do bare minimum work. I’ve heard stories from other internships where students sit around and don’t get half the opportunities that were presented to me here at UKC. That is the exact opposite of what I wanted.

From the minute Brent presented in front of our class at the Innovation Center, I knew UKC was the company I wanted to be a part of. The passion Brent showed while describing what the nonprofit does really spoke volumes to me. I wanted to be surrounded by people who care for their community, not greedy individuals who only care about their well being.

UKC has a bright future in the nonprofit world and I know Brent, Lauren, Jenn, and all of our partners are going to continue creating a positive atmosphere for the Kansas City area. The sky’s the limit with this organization.

Thank you Uncover KC for making my last semester of high school one to remember. It’s been an amazing four months and I truly appreciate the opportunity to work with all three of you. Best of luck!

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR THE HUNT TODAY!

Come join us on Saturday, March 30 for our annual signature event – a photo scavenger hunt in downtown KC. All funds help provide grants for our experiential learning programs.

Internship reflection from Dawson Owen Consultation

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