By SABRINA ZIZO / Community Columnist

Internships at the University of Montevallo are encouraged by many departments because of the applied experience students can get outside of just their classrooms. Madi Niven, a Communication Studies senior at the University of Montevallo, completed 90 hours of interning at the Alabama Chapter of Make-A-Wish this past summer.

Niven shared her experience interning as a young professional.

“This internship allowed me to face my fears,” Niven said. “I was scared of interviews, making phone calls and making mistakes. Really anything dealing with the professional world scared me. Make-A-Wish pushed me to do the things I feared most, and gave me valuable insight: We are all humans, even people in the professional world. We mess up and get scared. It’s normal.”

A few of the responsibilities Niven held as an intern include helping roll and count donated coins, putting donor gifts together, working on gathering information for the wish kid spreadsheet and drafting the wish kids stories.
“Our chapter’s Make-A-Wish only grants wishes to kids in Alabama,” Niven said of her favorite part of being an intern at Make-A-Wish this summer. “So, one of my favorite things was creating our wish kid spreadsheet. Because while I researched and filled in information, I had the opportunity to read the kids stories. Each story told the impact of MAW in our very own community.”