Summer Interns Learn About Lupus & Further Their Careers
This summer, we were excited to welcome several summer interns to our office. They worked on projects across our departments, including education and research, development, marketing, and much more.
Find out what they learned during their internship and how it will help them in their future endeavors.
Paul
Q: What were you most excited about when you found out you would be interning at the Lupus Foundation of America?
When I found out that I would have the opportunity to be interning at the Lupus Foundation of America I was excited to dive deep into the nonprofit world. I was excited to learn and analyze all aspects of what the foundation does and how it operates. Learning that I would be working in research was beyond exciting for me. I have an interest in biology with a focus in immunology that has only been furthered in my time here.
What has been the most interesting thing you have learned?
The most interesting thing that I have learned in my time at the Lupus Foundation of America is the complexity of disease presentation in lupus. Before my time here, I didn’t know the scope of genes and environmental factors that have yet to be understood and how they contribute to lupus. It is fascinating to study a disease that is unique to almost each and every individual affected. This interest of mine continued when I received the task of doing a write up on Next Generation Sequencing for Director of Research, Alyssa Parks. I was able to dive deep into a technology that is promising for unlocking many of the hidden secrets of rheumatic disease activation.
How will this internship help your future career goals?
This internship will drive a desire to continue my education in the fields of immunology as I move into college. In addition I would love to come back and work at the Foundation again next summer. I have fallen in love with the work I was tasked with doing during my time here, and the people are beyond incredible. Even if I do not find myself back at the Foundation sometime in the future, my time here has sparked an interest in nonprofit work.
Molly
What were you most excited about when you found out you would be interning at the Lupus Foundation of America?
I was most excited to learn even more about lupus so I would be able to educate others better.
What has been the most interesting thing you have learned?
The most interesting thing I’ve learned is that even though you might not see the effects of photosensitivity externally, there can be internal flare ups of symptoms too.
How will this internship help your future career goals?
I am graduating high school this year and I do not know what I want to major in yet, but this internship gave me a little bit of experience in all the departments and will hopefully guide me to what I love to do.
Emma
What were you most excited about when you found out you would be interning at the Lupus Foundation of America?
When I found out I would be interning at the Lupus Foundation of America I was very excited to be given an opportunity to gain first-hand experience working for a non-profit organization and learn about how non-profits function day-to-day. I have always been passionate about non-profit work and was thrilled to be a part of a foundation that has been able to make such significant strides over the past couple of years in terms of advocacy, development, and more.
What has been the most interesting thing that you have learned?
The most interesting thing that I have learned since coming to the Lupus Foundation is the amount of people affected by lupus is large and the disease itself is very often forgotten. I always thought that lupus was a very well-known autoimmune disease but in fact, lupus does not receive enough attention by the general public. Lupus affects 90% women and 10% men and is considered an “invisible disease”.
How will this internship help your future career goals?
I am currently a political science major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Working as a corporate development and fundraising intern, I have gotten the opportunity to work with non-profit databases that are often used in many other company settings. I have also learned how to apply to corporate grants, which is much more challenging than it may sound. These skills and my continued outreach practice will help me in any future office setting no matter what career I take on. I am very grateful for the skills I have learned and am excited to use them in the future.
Lydia
What were you most excited about when you found out you would be interning at the Lupus Foundation of America?
I was excited to be able to continue to work with the foundation because previously I had only been to the Advocacy Summit and participated in online advocacy. It is also exciting because it is my first internship, and it is at a place that I feel comfortable.
What has been the most interesting thing that you have learned?
I’ve learned so much about the nonprofit realm, especially with regards to how it fits into the rest of the corporate world. I’ve also learned how many different grants there are in the works at all times.
How will this internship help your future career goals?
I want to work for either a nonprofit or an NGO in the future, so it fits very well with preparing me to work in this type of place someday. It is also a great experience to be able to learn from.