I've Come to the End

As of today the count is thirteen days until I’m done with high school. After four years it is finally coming to an end, and I have to say I couldn’t be happier. It’s certainly time for me to move on from the tedious (and occasionally exhilarating) world of high school. For my classmates and me, this last semester has been a difficult push to the end filled with missing assignments and skipped days. Compared to my peers, however, I’ve had the opportunity to do something new in the last four months of school. Instead of sitting around in school for another few hours after lunch, counting down until the end of the day, brining me that much closer to the end, I’ve come to Planned Parenthood every day and been engaged in something new and exciting, giving me a reason to come to school every day. In fact I even came to my internship on Senior Skip Day. Crazy right? Tells you there’s something special about this place though.

I think the biggest difference between school and working at Planned Parenthood is that I truly care about the work I do here. At school everyone has such resentment towards doing work and being productive; seniors just want it to be over already. When I come to Planned Parenthood, however, I get excited about what I get to accomplish that day. Everyday I get to do something that makes a difference, whether it’s preparing outreach materials for an event, writing a blog post or even doing data entry, and it is all working towards a cause that I care about. The notion that the work I do can make a little something about the world better is enough to give me drive and inspiration to get the work done without dread. Compare that to writing an English paper on Hamlet… I’ll trade any day.

Working here for four months has given me knowledgeable insight into office and nonprofit work. Paper pushing, phone banking, blogging, all of this was new to me, and although not always the best of times, personally rewarding in a manner that makes me proud of the work I do. Proud because I’m helping an incredible organization like Planned Parenthood accomplish goals I care about like promoting comprehensive sex ed, protecting reproductive rights and ensuring women’s health.

Sitting here on one of my last days at Planned Parenthood, I know I made a smart choice when choosing where I wanted to intern (thanks for the suggestion mom!). I’ve gotten to do some really fun projects, things that I care about and tasks things that are tedious, but extremely important. This internship was exactly what I needed at this point in my life, something to keep me motivated, hold my interest and give me the opportunity to make a difference. I can only hope that I’ve given as much to this organization as it’s given me.

Before I go, I need to give a big shout out and thanks to Tiffany Hickman, the Volunteer and Intern Coordinator at Planned Parenthood who has been my supervisor these past months. She’s been incredible to work with and has made this whole experience so much better by being extremely friendly and encouraging. I also need to thank Rebecca Cavanaugh and the rest of the Planned Parenthood administrative staff for welcoming me to their floor and opening lots of doors! (I mean that literally).