Lucie Hoeschen ’23
Interning at the STAR Project has been an influential and crucial experience for the paving of my future career in re-entry work. At STAR, I have been working primarily as their fundraising intern, which has consisted
mostly of me asking people for donations out of the kindness of their hearts. I never knew how hard it would be, but I have learned that asking people for things while simultaneously offering them nothing in return has been an incredibly humbling and rewarding experience. I feel like I have learned so much about the Walla Walla community from being able to interact with so many local businesses and organizations in the process of planning and organizing fundraising efforts. I’ve even been able to get to know professors who I wouldn’t normally interact with (due to my major) on campus better through asking them for donations of their art work and published pieces. One of my favorite experiences while working with The STAR Project has been creating promotional materials for our fundraisers and diagrams that highlight the impact we have on the community. I’ve enjoyed this so much because I’ve been able to spend the majority of my time focusing on how successful STAR’s efforts have been in re-entry work and it has made me truly honored to have worked for such a great cause!
Experiences like Lucie’s are made possible by the Whitman Internship Grant, which provides funding for students to participate in unpaid internships at nonprofit, some for-profit, and government organizations. We are happy to be sharing blog posts from students who were supported by either a summer, fall, spring, or year-long grants at organizations, businesses, and research labs all around the world. To learn how you could secure a Whitman Internship Grant or host a Whitman intern at your organization, send an email to Assistant Director for Internship Programs, Mitzy Rodriguez