As I reflect on my time at SEA Change, I am left feeling bittersweet. I am sad to leave such an amazing team, but I am incredibly grateful for the experience and everything I learned throughout my internship.

One of the things I enjoyed most was connecting with entrepreneurs and being inspired by their energy, passion, and innovative ideas. I loved learning the fundamentals behind businesses and nonprofits while gaining exposure to finance, operations, and marketing principles. These experiences will be especially valuable as I continue exploring careers in finance and operations.

I particularly enjoyed being part of the deliberations to select finalists who would have the opportunity to pitch their organizations to a panel of experts for funding to support their ventures. It was incredibly insightful to hear the team evaluate each business—from its organizational and financial models to its potential impact on the communities it serves. This experience gave me a deeper understanding of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into building a successful organization and how outside investors assess a venture’s potential for long-term success.

Another aspect of my internship that I really enjoyed was learning about communication and marketing principles. I gained valuable knowledge about brand management and storytelling and was able to apply what I learned directly to the social media content I created. I also strengthened my skills in Canva and developed my video editing abilities. Looking ahead, I know these skills will be especially useful when working with teams that present findings, recommendations, or reports to organizational leaders and executives. Being able to communicate information in a clear, engaging, and thoughtfully curated story can make a significant difference in how that information is received.

Lastly, I had the opportunity to work on process improvement related to employee onboarding and programming. These projects challenged me to identify redundancies, streamline tasks, and find ways to help staff focus their time and energy on what matters most. As someone interested in operations, I especially enjoyed researching and developing ways to increase efficiency and better support the team.

My internship was nothing short of amazing, and I am deeply grateful to the Columbus Foundation for providing me with this opportunity and to SEA Change for playing such a significant role in my early career development. I am leaving this experience with a greater understanding of business, finance, operations, marketing, and the many ways these areas intersect to create meaningful impact.

As I look ahead, I am excited to begin another semester of graduate school and start my next internship as a Budget Analyst with Columbus Water and Power. I am looking forward to applying what I have learned throughout this summer and continuing to build on these experiences as I explore my future career.