LHSI Ambassador

Becoming an Ambassador 

After being an intern and enjoying my experience, I decided to apply to be an ambassador. I was accepted into the role along with Madi. We were both new ambassadors as juniors, and learned a lot during the summer of 2021 before the school year began. We both continued on to be senior ambassadors and the team grew with the amazing additions of Asia and Ashley.

Pictures of LHSI Ambassadors! p.s. we are very goofy lol

I really enjoyed my time as an intern. I became interested in the position for the mentoring aspect of being an ambassador and I  wanted a leadership role. I also wanted to be more interactive with my peers. The pandemic really changed the dynamic of college and I wanted to make connections with people and this was one way to do it. The interview process was relatively comfortable because the previous ambassadors who knew me, as well as Brandi, interviewed me in the spring of 2021. When the fall semester came along, it was really fun to get settled into the office and my desk. I met with Madi and we both shared the same passion. We also realized that we have been in pretty much all the same classes and did not know each other. I enjoyed the fall semester because it was all new. The team did a lot of tabling and events for recruitment which was right up my ally. I am the outspoken one on the team, so I would bring people to our table and talk to people a lot. I also loved meeting with the interns. Madi and myself would have drop-in hours were the interns would come in and get help. I really liked meeting with everyone and getting to put their faces with their names, and getting to know their personality and personally. I feel like being an ambassador made the semester go by faster as well. The second semester got more serious because interns had to do their project. I had to manage my time wisely and be more flexible the spring semester to help the interns more. Madi and I will both be ambassadors next year as well, so we are doing a senior project for LHSI with Dr. Kathleen Marrs. Another aspect of LHSI was applications for the next years interns. That was an different experience because it was like double the amount of people reaching out to me and meeting them. I feel like that also made this semester go by quickly as well. Brandi was such a great resource and boss, which also made the transition and the job easier. Madi was also very helpful and we collaborated on the different social media posts and grading e-Portfolios.

Goals

I want to be a resource to my peers and help them along the way. I want to be able to help them navigate through the school year with their academics and their internship, as well as other aspects, like working outside of school, scholarships, volunteering, and campus involvement.

I will learn how to network better and put myself in different environments to reach more people. I want to get more active on social media and campus to make LHSI a household name.

I want to be able to help the students know what they need to work on by giving specific advice and suggestions, furthermore I want to learn how to give better constructive details based off of student needs and in a team setting


First Year as an Ambassador

The fall semster went by so fast! It was fun and exciting, but there were some challenges. It was a slight struggle to get a hang of grading the intern e-porfolios. Madi and I both had 35 students each to help with their internship and e-portfolio. We learned quickly that sending individual messages were more effective than sending group messages as well as sending less frequent messages. I also learned about excel, google forms, google sites, and other editing aspects to better help my peers. In the fall semester, it was difficicult for students to manage their time with the internship and school work as well as other activities and jobs they were involved in. Brandi, Madi and I would have m4etings to discuss what is woring and what  is not working. We would also ideentify students who were excelling and other students that needed more assistance to be successful. I enjoyed our meetings because we also talked about what was happening on campus, give updates on school and our lives outside od school. We got to know each other better and our small team was strong. We wouyld have monthly check in meetings with the interns to see what they needed and t give them an oppurntunity to meet each other during the pandemic and majority of things were virtual. The first semester was a learning experience beacsue I had to learn how to manage my time to better assist students. I was managing the LHSI ambassador job, CSAB, course work, and a full time job. I felt good about it becuase it felt like I accomplished a lot with the circumstances of being online. The interns became more comfortable with reaching  out and realized that we were actually there to help them.

The spring semester was very busy. At this point we had to continue helping the current interns, but then we had to move into recruiting for the next year of interns and ambassadors. The semester started with the intern workshop to help them with starting their project. Brandi developed the plan to present the information tot he interns and this was a learning experience as well. It was a diffferent way of being a part of LHSI by first being an intern and doing the work, to becoming an ambassaodr and now mentoring and helping interns be successful students and interns. LHSI shifted gears into application season for the next years interns. Madi and I held information sessions for students who were interested in applying. I created a list of professors who were teaching science and/or life-science based courses. I also went through the clubs and organiztaions on campus. I created an email message to send to professors, clubs, and organizations to make them aware of what LHSI is and what it has to offer as well as the application being open and its deadline. Madi did a lot with the social media content and I helped her by reaching out to my interns to pull quotes from their e-porfolio or other requests for Madi. I went to a lot of classrooms, club meetings, and organizational meetings to present about LHSI for recruiting applicants. We had to extend drop in hours to accomadte the applicants and still have time for the current interns. We had both dropping in and scheduling appointments at the sme time! Some times it was hard transitioning between the two. Helping the applicantts was eye-opening,. Brandi showed Madi and I our application, resume, and cover letter that we applied with. We went through our application materials and learned how to assist the applicants.  The next goal for the semseter was finding more amabassadors. Madi and I were doing great, but we wanted to do more and be better so having more amabassadors would cover everything and spread the work more evenly. Madi and I reached out to our interns that we thought would be interested in the position. We sent out a message to all interns to let them know the ambassador application was open! As we graded e-portfolios, we learned a lot about our interns and their involvements and we picked inviduals we thought would be interested and sent personal message to them  to apply. After the application deadline, we interviewed the current interns and Asia and Ashley stood out to us. Both Asia and Ashley accepted the offer. 

The spring showcase was a great experience. I learned a lot from every student there. It was amazing and satisfying to see the interns and hear how they made the connections with their intership site. They were able to see the bigger picture towards the end and fully understand the importance and impact of  LHSI. It was my first in-person showcase and it was very interative. Applicants, professors, internship site supervisiors, family, and other staff were invited to the showcase. It was a great event and the interns that meet on the monthly virtual check in meetings finally got to see each other in person.

Second Year as a Senior Ambassador

For the fall semster we wanted to get started early! The team was involved in quite a few events on campus over the semester. This year was the first "normal" year back on campus. The university held its annual weeks of welcome, but it was a different feeling this year after being off campus for almost two years. Asia and Ashley jumped right in and helped tremendously with the social media. We made sure to keep connected with the campus to make sure our interns knew what was available to them on campus. The team tried to go to as many events as possible. Asia and Ashley would repost social media content to promote the events. 

In my role as a senior ambassador for the Life Health Science Internship (LHSI), I was entrusted with the responsibility of recruiting new students and increasing our presence on social media platforms. Together with my fellow ambassadors, we developed strategies and collaborated on outreach efforts to effectively reach out to students. Recognizing the importance of in-person interactions, we also made a conscious effort to attend club and organization events on campus, seizing the opportunity to engage with students face-to-face.

Our ultimate goal as a team was to establish LHSI as a household name among science-related majors and ensure that students were aware of the internship opportunity. To achieve this, we held monthly team meetings where we collectively devised goals and assigned tasks for the month ahead. These meetings served as a platform for evaluating our progress, analyzing what went well and areas that needed improvement. It was during these sessions that we fostered a sense of camaraderie, strengthening our bonds and forming lifelong friendships. In fact, the close relationships I developed with my fellow ambassadors enriched my experience as an ambassador and made our collective efforts more impactful.

As ambassadors, we recognized the importance of facilitating interactions among interns and fostering a sense of community. We collaborated with Ashley, our supervisor, to devise enhanced guidelines that streamlined our approach and emphasized the importance of connecting interns with one another and the available resources. While this endeavor will continue to evolve with each new cohort of ambassadors, we strived to create an inclusive and supportive environment for all interns.

One of the key topics we focused on and presented to the interns was the concept of "mattering." We delved deep into how the interns' experience and sense of significance can significantly impact their relationships and overall success. We engaged in thoughtful discussions about how when students feel their work matters, whether it be at their internship or in their academic courses, they are more likely to be motivated and achieve success. On the flip side, we explored the detrimental effects of feeling marginalized or reduced to a mere body or number. These conversations prompted us to brainstorm ways in which we could foster an environment where students feel valued and recognized, as we understood that this was crucial for their overall growth and achievement.

As the year progressed, we culminated our efforts with the traditional showcase, which proved to be a resounding success. It was a testament to the dedication and hard work of the entire LHSI team, as well as the commitment of the interns themselves. The showcase provided a platform for interns to showcase their accomplishments and experiences, further solidifying the value and impact of the internship program.

Reflecting on my experience as a senior ambassador for LHSI, I am proud of the progress we made in promoting the internship opportunity, fostering meaningful connections among interns, and emphasizing the importance of mattering in their academic and professional lives. This role not only allowed me to contribute to the success of the program, but it also provided me with invaluable personal and professional growth. The relationships I formed, the skills I developed, and the insights I gained will undoubtedly shape my future endeavors and contribute to my own journey towards a fulfilling career in the health sciences.