Hi all,  

I cannot believe it is already Week 4 at ETSS. The Summer Youth Enrichment Program is in full swing. Most of my days are spent reaching out to companies, whether in person, on the phone, or through their email, to request donations for the Youth Summit. I also found several grants to apply for on behalf of ETSS’s Youth Out-of-School Time department, which we have been slowly working through.  

I’ve had a couple small fundraising wins this week. It’s always exciting to see results! The 2^nd & 7 Columbus Kids’ Book Bank has generously supplied over 600 books for the Youth Summit, which means that every kid will leave with a free book in hand!  

During this week’s Learning Session at the Columbus Foundation, Dr. Lomax asked us to lay out how we intend to use our power, passion, purpose, and positioning to effect change in the areas we care about. I thought about some of my strengths—I think that intellectual curiosity and pattern recognition are two of my biggest. I also considered what I care about—a difficult question to answer at 20, there’s no shortage of answers for many of us. I tend to think a lot about the impact of macro-level structures on human behavior and outcomes, so something policy-related seems apt. Dr. Lomax encouraged us to put aside other people’s expectations about our futures (in my case, the assumption that political science students must want to be politicians or lawyers, though I’m not ruling either out) and focus on our own interests.

My internship at ETSS has helped me discover a lot about my goals. I absolutely love the nonprofit environment. It is incredibly motivational, especially when you get to interact with the people your organization serves regularly and base your programs on their ideas and feedback. I’m learning so much about fundraising, marketing, and even working with children—all areas I was previously quite unfamiliar with. I am interested in seeing more of the program development and community partnership sides of ETSS as well.  

This week’s Friday field trip was to the Scioto Mile Fountain. The kids played in the splash pad, got pushed on swings, and explored the riverside trail. Talking to the students is always the highlight of my week!  

Until next week,  

Sanay