Launch Summer Experience offers one temporary resident a chance to live her life to fullest during college internship
As a native of Monroe, Louisiana, Andrea Hernandez had never visited Tennessee before this summer. That all changed when the political science major at University of Louisiana at Monroe pursued and landed an internship with the Memphis Child Advocacy Center. h The rising senior is on track to graduate in 2020, a full year earlier than expected. h “There’s pressure to have internships under my belt since I’m graduating early,” Hernandez says. “My friends aren’t necessarily doing the same things I am, so it’s easy to compare yourself at school or work. I’ve learned that you need to focus on what you want and how you’re fulfilled.” h For Hernandez, that meant getting out of her comfort zone to hone her professional skills in a new city, knowing her ultimate goal is graduate school at Louisiana State University’s Public Administration program, specializing in nonprofits. With a passion for helping children and communities, the advocacy center was the perfect fit.
“I really love that I’ve met quality people my age who are taking their career seriously. We’re all taking steps to do what we want to do. The events are very welcoming, warm and nice, and they have free food and drinks, which is great.”
and much more) in Atlantic City.
The least racist person you have ever met? “Laziness is a trait in blacks. It really is, I believe that. It’s not anything they can control,” he told Playboy in 1997. Mexicans? “They’re rapists.” White supremacists waving swastikas in Charlottesville? “Very fine people on both sides.” On and on and on.
Remember when Trump (you know, the least racist person you’ve ever met) said Haitian immigrants “all have AIDS” and many African nations are “s---hole countries?” He said once Nigerians have seen the United States, they would never “go back to their huts.” The joke’s on him and his base. According to Trump’s own Census Bureau, Nigerian immigrants are far better educated than white Americans.
Hernandez has worked as an orientation leader, tour guide and alumni ambassador for ULM. She’s also putting her poli-sci training to use by rebooting the campus College Democrats’ group and aiding the governor’s re-election campaign.
“My first week here I was very lonely,” Hernandez recalls. “I told my co-workers about how I wanted to get to know the area and meet people. Thankfully, our communications specialist, Chris Jones, gets the New Memphis newsletters and told me about Launch Summer Experience. I signed up immediately and have come to every event.
“I really love that I’ve met quality people my age who are taking their career seriously,” she explains. “We’re all taking steps to do what we want to do. The events are very welcoming, warm and nice, and they have free food and drinks, which is great.”
As one of the only interns at her organization, Hernandez considers programs like Launch Summer Experience beneficial to plugging into the city.
“Being new to the city, I didn’t already have built-in friends. It was important for me to look for any organization that put on events where I could meet people. Even if other interns at larger companies have the privilege to know other interns, it’s still important to meet other students to gain fresh perspectives.”
Her internship at MCAC and her experience with Launch events has allowed Hernandez to refocus her career ambitions.
“I almost took a political internship [elsewhere], and I’m glad I didn’t,” she says. “Everyone would always say ‘Memphis is on the rise,’ and after meeting people from the area, as a student being here, it’s very student-friendly. I would love to be here and live in Memphis to start my career.”
Summer Experience is a series of free events in June and July for local and visiting college students, graduate students, and recent grads that choose to spend their summer in Memphis. These events connect collegians with one another while showcasing the array of opportunities and dynamic assets our city has to offer. As part of the Launch: Campus to Career initiative, New Memphis introduces college students to the dynamic community of local employers while helping students learn to navigate the workplace, build networks, develop professional skills and plot their careers.
Anna Thompson is marketing communications manager for the New Memphis Institute, a networking program that connects professions and champions living in area.