As mentioned in a previous post, GiveTeens20® is currently looking for 10 awesome interns to join our Student Advisory Council. There are some great benefits and opportunities to joining our SAC internship. Instead of having us explain what they are, we decided to interview two current SAC members and have them tell you about their experiences.
Cat Tran
Status: Graduating senior at American High School. She is currently on the SAC as an intern and the secretary of SAC.
Interests/Hobbies: Tran enjoys singing and has been in several performances at her high school. She loves watching television shows that revolves around suspense and is currently obsessed with “Grey’s Anatomy”.
What do you do as a SAC Member?
“I provide teen input and opinions on certain topics like teen employment, and trending topics that would hit home to a lot of teenagers. I also contribute in community service events like the Ohana Health Fair and Fremont Street Eats, but I am pretty much a representative. I attend these events and I talk about the purpose of what this internship is or on a broader scale what GT20 is.”
The benefits of being on SAC: “I got to implement my interpersonal skills that I developed over the years, as well as my time with GT20 for Kaiser Permanente. I think it has served me really well in terms of building relationships with co-workers and patients. That’s an asset that I really value.”
The opportunities/experiences: “I have a lot of memorable moments with the SAC. I feel like every meeting is refreshing and exciting. Not only do I get to voice my opinions and offer innovative ideas to the GT20 board, I feel like I have a purpose. I have all of these cool ideas that will attract teenagers and I love that Kathy is open to hearing all of my suggestions… At the same time, I enjoy going to all of these events…I feel like communications skills, getting myself out there, getting exposure, and getting connected with people will help me network. GT20 provides that for me.”
What would you say to someone who is thinking about applying but isn’t sold on the idea just yet?
“I would say an internship looks way better than a volunteer on a [college] resume. Also, the fact that you’re a teenager working for an organization that revolves around teens benefits.”
Aditya Parkash
Status: Graduating senior at Washington High School. He is currently on the SAC.
Interests/Hobbies: Parkash is a huge technology person who enjoys building computers, and playing video games. He also enjoys playing badminton and is currently playing for the Junior Varsity and Varsity team. In the future, he hopes to get into game development.
The benefits of being on SAC: “There are three critical things that I really like about the SAC. One, Kathy’s networks. Kathy has a huge network and it helped me grow my own network. She introduced me to LinkedIn® and I met multiple people throughout [my experience]… Two, SAC is great because it helped me understand business etiquette. The SAC meetings are serious business meetings with an agenda, secretary, vice president and president. I have never experienced that before. Three, the SAC gave me an opportunity to give back to my community.”
The opportunities: Recently, GiveTeens20® teamed up with Microsoft and went to their corporate office in Mountain View, CA to film a few videos. Parkash was given the opportunity to join in on the fun. “I met a partner marketing strategist, a senior project manager, and an events specialist. Most importantly for me, I met a firmware engineer and a silicon design engineer,” he said. “I got to see exactly what my future job would be like in person.”
As an aspiring game developer, Parkash was given another opportunity to interview someone in the gaming development world. “Kathy was on a plane ride and she met a guy named David Sears (SOCOM: US Navy SEALs, Assassins Creed), who happened to be the creative director of SOF Studios, and she got me an interview with him,” he explains. Parkash asked for 20 minutes to pick his brain and ended up talking to Sears for 45 minutes.
What would you say to someone who is thinking about applying but isn’t sold on the idea just yet?
“The first thing I would say is that the internship is the biggest thing you could put on your college resume, because it is going to really beef up your college resume,” Parkash explains. “Colleges are going to look at you and say, ‘Wow, this student has an internship in high school? That is great.’ Also I would tell this person to take advantage of the opportunities, because opportunities are everything.” Parkash said.
If you are interested in joining the SAC, be sure to apply here.
