CCE Intern Blog
Welcome to our Civic and Community Engagement (CCE) Intern Blog! Read more about our student interns, events, and commentary on all things related to our program!
Meet Michelle Maloy!
Author: Ely Ramirez, CCE Intern
Publish Date: April, 26, 2024
Introducing Michelle Maloy, a Community-Based Intern in the ICCE’s Community Work-Study Program! Michelle is currently working at the Schurig Center for Brain Injury Recovery in Marin County, California. As a final-year Public Health student at San Francisco State, Michelle brings 26 years of experience from her previous private message practice and is now applying her skills in the Public Health field. The ICCE partnered with the Schurig Center thanks to Michelle, allowing her to work within her community while earning Work-Study funds.
While browsing for positions on Handshake, Michelle stumbled upon the ICCE’s Community Work Study Program. “I read through it and that interested me, to see what I could do with my career… just to get more experience and get my feet wet again into the career field”. As she was also looking at an internship at the Schurig Center, she reached out to Tati, her ICCE supervisor, and the Schurig Center’s director for the possibility of a partnership. “I asked the Schurig Center if they could create [a community partner placement] for me, and I talked to Tati [CWS supervisor] and that’s how it came about”. Her efforts resulted in a new community partner for the ICCE and the perfect placement for her.
The Schurig Center for Brain Injury Recovery is a non-profit that offers therapeutic, educational, and supportive services to aid brain injury survivors and their families. Michelle’s role involves assisting clients with therapeutic activities, promoting socialization, facilitating sessions, and other responsibilities. Michelle expressed her interest in pursuing a career with individuals with neurological disabilities and hopes to secure a permanent position at the Schurig Center. “It has exposed me to working with clients… I would like to keep working with people with brain injuries or do something similar”.
Michelle learned that her time as a Community-Based Intern taught her to advocate for herself and seek opportunities aligned with her goals. She reflects, “That’s how things are in the real world… things switch and change, and you just have to adapt”. Michelle’s work not only granted a new passion for Public Health but also expanded the ICCE’s community partnerships.
Meet Milagros Perez!
Author: Elsy Hernandez, CCE Intern
Publish Date: March, 18, 2024
Milagros Perez is a Graphic Design Student Assistant at the ICCE. She’s also a fourth-year visual communication design major with a minor in Business Administration. Milagros joined the ICCE team four months ago in December of 2023.
Through this ICCE job, Milagros has gained valuable hands-on experience in designing various materials – a task that aligns with her degree and future career plans. She spends her time in the office creating original material from posters to stickers to social media graphics. Milagros elaborates, "Working at the ICCE has been essential in helping me clarify my career goals…The hands-on experience and exposure to various design projects have been crucial in shaping my professional aspirations and confirming that a career as a designer is the path I want to pursue.”
Graphic design is a complex world with both creative and theoretical aspects – a lot of thinking and planning go into creating a cohesive image. Milagros believes that the ICCE position has enabled her to greatly develop her skills as a designer. She details, “[I] am able to explore layouts, typography, color theory, and composition.”
Of course, like any other jobs there is always a learning curve and for Milagros, this has been finding the right balance of creativity and preciseness in the completion of her tasks. With a few months of experience under her belt now, however, she feels she has been able to conquer this challenge, “To overcome this, I've been working on communication with team members, and seeking feedback to ensure my designs align with the project goals.”
Working with others has improved her ability to communicate, collaborate with her peers, and practice time management. The designing experience she’s gained from this job has further developed her design skills but also her understanding of design software.
Overall, working at the ICCE has been a dynamic experience for Milagros as she gets insight into what her future jobs could resemble and what it means to be a team member.
Meet Nina Pierremont!
Author: Jazlyn Wong, CCE Intern
Publish Date: March 18, 2024.
Meet Nina Pierremont, 22, Strategic Initiatives Student Assistant at the ICCE! Nina is an undergraduate in her senior year at SFSU, majoring in communication studies and minoring in marketing, so she fits right in with this position in the ICCE! She’s responsible for maintaining communication channels and contracts with partner organizations, curating social media content and planning strategic marketing initiatives—most specifically for Gator Votes throughout this semester.
Nina’s favorite part of working with the ICCE are the people, the involvement with her community and furthering her career development. She said that her role has definitely given her insight on her future.
“Right now, I’m definitely learning a lot more and getting a little bit more experience in the realms of social media, especially with Gator Votes. A lot of projects are coming, which is exciting and will allow me to learn more about education and the marketing aspect of that. There’s so many different sectors and I feel like this is a really good stepping stool,” Nina said.
Throughout her time as a Student Assistant, something she initially had trouble with was getting used to the ICCE’s rules, regulation and system.
“I think the biggest challenge has been learning how to effectively understand the regulation. I’ve never worked for the marketing side of a university,” she said.
Aside from adapting to the marketing side of a university, Nina said that her role with the ICCE is a great learning experience, especially regarding all the standards that SF State abides by.
“I have to always make note of that whenever I’m curating content or just coming up with ideas or questions for our students to be able to be informed of specific events and information on campus and making sure I’m in line with the values here,” she said.
Nina is an integral aspect of the ICCE’s Civic & Community Engagement team, whether it’s for her outgoing personality or her meticulous work.
Meet Melissa Nhi Ly!
Author: Nyla Jones, CCE Intern
Publish Date: April, 26, 2024
Melissa, a 21-year-old general biology major at SF State University, is in her second-year as a STEAM Counts Intern with the ICCE, returning out of her love for the work!
At the Stonestown YMCA, her typical day begins at 3 P.M. making announcements to the kids about homework and dinner. Melissa then spends the rest of her shift leading enrichment activities and collaborating with other group leaders to help with their homework. Melissa describes the experience as a “breather” between her classes and homework.
Something that challenged Melissa during her time here was practicing patience and time management. Working with groups of children can be difficult to manage - however, with the help of her co-interns, the work is manageable. “Patience is key,” she said. “Working together as a team really helps to not only keep ourselves in check, but also helps us [manage] a group of kids.” Since each child has their own unique personality, it helps to collaborate with other interns about the best ways to meet the students’ needs. Working with the co-interns provides a space where they can share ideas, divide tasks, and most importantly, support one another.
Melissa’s favorite part of working with the YMCA—and one reason why she decided to return—is hearing about the kids’ lives outside of the school, and seeing the great friendships that were created from being at the YMCA. Being a part of a team and bonding with new people who become valuable partners in life helps the job be easier and more fun each day. The work pays off, she claims, even on days she doesn’t work; occasionally seeing the students outside of the classroom and hearing them call her ‘Ms. Melissa’ puts a smile on her face and gives her a warm feeling the rest of the day.
Working with the ICCE gives her a great start towards her childhood dream of working as a nurse. Since she’s already gained experience working with older people doing clinicals at a nursing home, she now gets to gain experience working with a younger demographic to help get a full preparation for her future career.
Meet Estrella Villalobos Espinoza!
Author: Elsy Hernandez, CCE Intern
Publishing date: March 18, 2024
Estrella Villalobos Espinoza is a first-year Student Assistant here at the ICCE who is majoring in Business at SFSU. She was influenced by her major to look for entry-level office jobs to see what her future career prospects could be like and has since learned a variety of skills. Additionally, Estrella has gained valuable information about what she wants in a career from working at the ICCE.
The typical workday for Estrella depends on the current ICCE project. Earlier this semester, she was busy helping organize our Gator Votes “Vote-A-Tines” event, but she now is focusing on reaching out to lecturer-faculty about classroom presentations. These tasks have helped her get familiarized with Microsoft tools like Excel Spreadsheets – a skill she says will be very helpful in future jobs. Just like the rest of the Student Assistants, Estrella works in person at the ICCE office, which she enjoys. “I actually like having my own space to work, but I also like the idea that there's more people I can talk to. Whenever I walk in there’s someone who’s already smiling.” While the ICCE offers a quiet space to focus and work in, the workers here create a welcoming environment that helps everyone feel comfortable.
Estrella notes Gator Votes as her favorite project she’s worked on while at the ICCE due to being able to engage with various students in our community. According to Estrella, the event helped her grow more confident interacting with others, “Whatever job I had [before] I didn’t really like being seen – like setting it up and having people talking to me – but that event showed me: why am I so afraid?”
As any full-time student, Estrella is busy with classes, but on top of her ICCE job, she also works off-campus. Being in this position has encouraged Estrella to find effective time management strategies and healthy self-care techniques. For handling all of her assignments, she says, “What helps is if I do my work when it is given to me. That way I have the weekend to just relax.”
Working at the ICCE has helped Estrella grow in various professional and personal areas, and it’s an opportunity she recommends to other SFSU students. “I would say just apply if you’re looking for a first job on campus. It teaches you a lot of things like communication skills with professors and students and ideas for setting up events. It’s preparing you for a ‘real world’ job.”
Meet Marianne Flores!
Author: Jazlyn Wong, CCE Intern
Publish Date: March, 18, 2024
Meet Marianne Flores, 19, a Community Engagement & Partnership Student Assistant at the ICCE! Marianne is an undergraduate in her junior year at SFSU with a major in International Relations and a minor in Political Science, making her a great fit with her role in the ICCE! Marianne is responsible for assisting with administration, office duties and her internal tasks of supporting students and organizations with the ULink processes. Marianne was initially challenged with getting familiar with the office and tasks, especially regarding ULink.
“When I first started working here, [an initial challenge] had to have been working with the system that was already in place and here and trying to figure it out. ULink is not the easiest platform. I’m still learning about every single detail and program with the ICCE, so a challenge was for sure trying to remember all that I’m reviewing,” Marianne said.
Almost two years in with the ICCE, Marianne has learned a lot about professional development and polished her confidence. She’s now comfortable with her daily office tasks and is grateful for what she has learned here.
“One of the biggest pieces of advice that my supervisor, Jen has given me was about finding my voice and sticking with it, and being confident in that,” she said. “I always try to do the best I can and not be afraid to ask for help, because if you don’t, you might end up doing something wrong and have to struggle all over again.”
Marianne has gained both experience and relationships with the ICCE.
“I love everyone here. I’ve gained a lot of insight from everyone in the office as well as future career experience. Everyone is super nice, and it feels like a big family sometimes,” she said.
Marianne is a diligent student assistant with the ICCE’s Civic & Community Engagement team, taking care of both external office tasks and internal connections.