ASIAN American Donor Program - Internship
ASIAN AMERICAN DONOR PROGRAM
2169 Harbor Bay Parkway Alameda, CA 94502
Supervisor: Carol Gillespie
The Asian American Donor Program is a nonprofit organization that specializes in outreach and donor registration drives. It is dedicated to increasing the amount of potential stem cell donors. As an intern at AADP, I did a variety of tasks such as make phone calls to potential donors, making donor registration kits, and creating social media posts. I would work at AADP for two hours every Wednesday.
2169 Harbor Bay Parkway Alameda, CA 94502
Supervisor: Carol Gillespie
The Asian American Donor Program is a nonprofit organization that specializes in outreach and donor registration drives. It is dedicated to increasing the amount of potential stem cell donors. As an intern at AADP, I did a variety of tasks such as make phone calls to potential donors, making donor registration kits, and creating social media posts. I would work at AADP for two hours every Wednesday.
Journal Entries November 15, 2017 - February 14, 2018
November 15, 2017
Today was my first day at the Asian American Donor Program. I am interning with a friend which makes everything much easier. I did not really know what to expect coming into the office but I was hoping that we were going to do donor registration kits like we used to do. I was surprised to find out that our supervisor told us to do social media posts for the whole week. It seems interesting but finding things to talking about and trying to be “on trend” is challenging. In around two hours, we were only able to find ideas for about seven days worth of posts. The office was really quiet while we were there and I didn’t realize that we were allowed to listen to music while working. I hope that next week I can do something else because social media posts are much harder than I thought.
November 22, 2017
We were told to make social media posts again and we are finally getting the hang of it. The task does get a little boring and I feel exhausted after doing so but it’s fine. I think we finished faster this time but the task still takes up a huge amount of time. I am thankful that my internship lets us eat while we are working and there are snacks that we can get because I was starving. One of the things that I never thought I would be doing during my internship is researching national holidays like National Red Mitten Day. Finding weird holidays does lighten up the mood.
December 20, 2017
I haven’t been to my internship in nearly one month because of scheduling but everything went smoothly. We finished doing our social media posts really early this week, we had around half an hour left of free time afterwards. We thought it would be a smart idea to get a head start and start a document filled with next weeks posts on it. I was surprised and happy to find out that they used some of the ideas that we had and posted it on their social media accounts. I noticed that they wouldn’t always do it so it’s nice to see that our efforts are being noticed.
January 3, 2018
Today there was a change in what we were told to do. For two hours, we were on youtube looking for videos of comedians that would be added to a trailer for a comedy night. I loved watching all the videos because it lightened the mood and it wasn’t boring. One major challenge that I faced today was finding appropriate videos for some comedians. There was one person who had one really funny video but it was too inappropriate for the trailer that they were trying to make. By the end of the day, we probably watching around twenty to thirty videos.
January 10, 2018
We were finally told to make donor registration kits! I felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders because of it. I has been more than a year since I last made them and I am a little rusty. I feel like I was slower but the process of making one is much simpler now than it was before. Our supervisor let us sit in the front area of the office and said that we were allowed to watch tv. It was someone’s birthday as well so we were given cake and that made me happy. It was nice being able to watch Guy’s Grocery Games while working. I thought that it would prevent us from doing our best but we were able to complete around 200 donor kits. Hopefully, next week we will be doing the same thing.
January 17, 2018
All we were told to do today is make donor registration kits. Making the kits is my favorite thing to do because I don’t have to think that much while doing it. Someone from FedEx asked me questions because they thought I worked there and that was awkward. Thankfully, someone clarified things with them because I didn’t know what was going on. We completed 200 kits today and we could have done more if we were given more kits.
January 24, 2018
Our goal this week was to finish all of the donor registration kits that were in the box given to us. I have gotten faster at making the kits and now it feels like second nature to do it. Each week, I get a little anxious going in thinking that our supervisor would make us do something else. Today, she talked to us about possibly doing a presentation or registration drive at school. I liked the idea of doing so but I don’t know if we will have enough time to do it. I was thinking of having a presentation in front of senior seminar; if our supervisor asks us about it again I will talk to her more about it.
January 31, 2018
We finished making all the kits and we still had a lot of time left over. Instead of asking for another box, we ended up just watching Mulan on the tv. Today was really relaxing and a nice break from the whole week. I got sleepy at one point but I still worked my hardest to complete my task. I am surprised that I still haven’t gotten a paper cut because of all the envelopes and stickers that I have had to handle. I hope that next week we do the same thing.
February 7, 2018
Today was the most exhausting day of my internship. Our supervisor asked for one of us to help her with something and I volunteered. I thought it was going to be something simple but it wasn’t. I had to call people and tell them to complete their incomplete paperwork. I was so anxious because I hate phone calls. I had to take a deep breath and face my fear. I had a script and at first, I messed up my script but then I got the hang of it. I thought I was going to be calling people from the Bay Area but instead, I was calling people who lived in Washington. Most of the people were nice but some did give me attitude. It was hard to understand what people were saying on the phone and I couldn’t read people’s handwriting when I was looking over their paper work. By the end of the day, I called around thirty people and I felt like I accomplished something. Calling homes was a nice break from doing donor registration kits but I don’t want to do it again.
February 14, 2018
Today was my last day at my internship, it was bittersweet. I am probably going to go back at some point just for fun because I liked doing donor kits. Time flew by again, I noticed that we always watch Guy’s Grocery Games anytime we are given the opportunity to watch TV. We could be watching something else each week, but we always gravitate towards the show. It does distract us sometimes from our task but for the most part we are paying attention to the work that is in front of us.
Internship Closing Report
Through my internship, I used my communication skills and ability to work with others to complete my twenty hours. My daily duties varied week to week, I would not know what task I would be given until the day of. The ambiguity with my internship tasks did keep me on edge but, it made me more excited to come each week. In the beginning of my internship, I was given the task of creating social media posts for the company with the help of a fellow intern. While it was something that interested me in the beginning, the task did not hold my attention for long periods of time. On one day, we were tasked with finding videos for a comedy night that the Asian American Donor Program was holding. We spent two hours scouring the internet for videos. For the majority of the time however, we made bone marrow donor registration kits that would be used for drives. The task is simple and repetitive but it was my favorite part of my internship. It was calming to do the same thing over and over again without thinking about it. A challenge that I faced during my internship was having to make phone calls to people who filled out registration forms. I am not good with talking over the phone so the task was daunting and nerve racking in the beginning. I had to follow a script and I found myself messing up when others were around me. After a while however, I got the hang of it and I wasn’t as nervous with talking on the phone. By the end of that day, I called around thirty people.
Before starting my internship, I thought that the whole process was going to be easy. I had volunteered at Asian American Donor Program before and all I did then as make donor registration kits. I was surprised to find out that my supervisor would give me other tasks. We had a meeting before starting the internship where she asked what I was interested in and I didn’t think much of it. I didn’t realize that my answers were going to dictate the tasks that I would be given. For ten weeks, I went to the office for two hours but time flew by because of the work I was given. At times the task was boring and I couldn’t wait to leave but for the most part, I really liked being at my internship.
Through my internship, I learned how to adapt to new environments and to go out of my comfort zone. I had never worked in an office like environment before and it took me some time to feel comfortable walking in and talking to other people who were working there. I was able to adapt to fit different tasks that were given to me and I was able to accomplish them with the time that was given to me. I branched out of my comfort zone through talking on the phone and creating social media posts for the different accounts that the company had.
Before starting my internship, I thought that the whole process was going to be easy. I had volunteered at Asian American Donor Program before and all I did then as make donor registration kits. I was surprised to find out that my supervisor would give me other tasks. We had a meeting before starting the internship where she asked what I was interested in and I didn’t think much of it. I didn’t realize that my answers were going to dictate the tasks that I would be given. For ten weeks, I went to the office for two hours but time flew by because of the work I was given. At times the task was boring and I couldn’t wait to leave but for the most part, I really liked being at my internship.
Through my internship, I learned how to adapt to new environments and to go out of my comfort zone. I had never worked in an office like environment before and it took me some time to feel comfortable walking in and talking to other people who were working there. I was able to adapt to fit different tasks that were given to me and I was able to accomplish them with the time that was given to me. I branched out of my comfort zone through talking on the phone and creating social media posts for the different accounts that the company had.