Taylor Voorhees

Responsibilities

I work as the intern for one of the Program Assistants in the Office of Admissions Early Outreach. I assist with tasks related to programs and events that our office puts on including CONNECT and Investigation Series. CONNECT is a college and career readiness program for students of color, students of low-income background, and first generation bound students aimed at providing them important connections to their school, peers, and community. Investigation Series is an event held at Iowa State for Talented and Gifted middle school students. It gives them an opportunity to visit campus and experience a few sessions led by instructors about topics like computer engineering, animal car, and entrepreneurship.

Accomplishments

During my internship, I was able to help create a program manual for a program called CONNECT. This will serve as the framework for future years and can be a great resource to future interns or people who work with our program. Creating this document was a big accomplishment because there had never before been a clear vision of what the program should look like. There were bits and pieces of information spread throughout different documents, but bringing it all together creates clarity for what the CONNECT program is.

What advice would you give?

Use your internship opportunity as a chance to grow. It can be a great chance to network, challenge yourself with new tasks, and encounter real-life problem solving opportunities. All of these experiences will cause growth and can be applied to future career opportunities.