My internship journey going from an uncertain first-year college student to a confident leader, creator, and storyteller

When I first applied for the Marketing and Storytelling Internship at Making Waves, I didn’t think I’d even land an interview. I wasn’t majoring in marketing and I didn’t have experience in content creation for a brand. I had just finished my first year of college at USC and was going into my sophomore year trying to figure out what career path I wanted to take as an NGOs and social change major interested in making a difference in my community.

Although I didn’t match every requirement of the job post, I knew I had communications experience from course projects, skills in video editing from my extracurriculars, and a curiosity and drive to make an impact.

I took the chance, applied for the internship, shared my interest and my transferrable skills in the interview, got the role, and, from day one, was welcomed into a team that encouraged growth and creativity.

Over the course of the internship year, I increased the brand’s Instagram following by more than 30%, increased reach on the brand’s Instagram by more than 6,600%, and supported the increase of LinkedIn following by 45%. Here is the approach I took and the lessons I learned along the way during this marketing and social media internship.

Learning by doing and growing my confidence

I started as a Marketing and Storytelling Intern diving into naming files, uploading photos, proofreading stories, and brainstorming topics for social media and website content. My first video project was a Day in my Life as a college student.

That one video changed everything. It sparked my interest in social media storytelling and seeing the comments from my friends and support from my supervisor, Bonnie Shea, Making Waves’ VP of Marketing and Storytelling, gave me the confidence to keep creating.

Over time, I began making more videos, collaborating with other interns, and experimenting with ways to increase engagement. I then took on more of a leadership role, creating peer-to-peer content, including our First-Gen Day and National Intern Day video and editing other intern’s videos such as these ones with internship tips and college advice.

I even found myself doing things I never imagined like attending my university’s career fair to film content but ended up learning more about my own goals in the process. This internship brought me to meet new people and even create friendships that I will forever cherish. I even got to tell my own story. Something I didn’t think would matter much, but now I see the power in sharing and see how it can inspire others.

After five months in my first internship term, we started to see positive results and saw the potential for more engagement if we focused on Instagram even more. I was asked to continue into another term and was promoted to Lead Marketing and Storytelling Intern: Digital and Social Media, where I focused on leading content creation and had the goal of increasing our student engagement through social media, particularly on Instagram. I managed projects in Asana, a project management system, learned to stay organized, contributed ideas, and asked questions early on in project planning.

Feedback can be the best part of content creation

Each project had its own workflow with different feedback and review processes. For videos, I drafted scripts, filmed, edited in CapCut and later learned how to use Adobe Premiere Pro, and incorporated feedback before publishing. For articles I conducted interviews, transcribed, and wrote stories that follow an inclusive storytelling approach.

The feedback process quickly became my favorite part.

Every round of reviews taught me something new, whether that be how to make my writing clearer, how to edit videos in alignment with the mission, or how to provide constructive feedback with interns and fellows who were also creating content.

At first, videos we created and shared on Instagram had modest engagement at about 100-300 views, but over the course of the year, our content began to reach over 4,000-5,000 views. That growth came from persistence in consistently coming up with ideas with the team, testing new formats, partnering with students and alums of our program on user-generated content, and analyzing what was working and what wasn’t.

The real value came from creating content that resonated with our audiences. I strived for our students, families, and alumni to not just see information, but also see themselves feel represented in the content.

Building community and understanding our audiences

As I gained confidence and was seeing more engagement on Instagram, I wanted to understand our audience more deeply.

I asked if I could run student focus groups and learned how to set them up – from recruiting participants, offering incentives, and forming the questions. I interviewed both Wave-Makers (college students who are a part of our college and career success program) and college students more broadly to learn more about their experiences, the challenges they are facing, and what kind of content resonated with them or helped them the most. They shared how much they value peer-to-peer advice and relatability to stay motivated to overcome the challenges of being a college student.

Those conversations shaped how I approached social media strategy, and I realized that representation builds trust, and trust is what fuels engagement.

With support from Bonnie, I gradually took on more leadership, providing direction and support for new Content Creator and Storytelling Fellows, managing timelines independently, and even interviewing the CEO of Making Waves Academy, Alton B. Nelson, Jr., for a story.

Whether I was writing emails, coordinating filming dates, or publishing videos on Instagram, I learned that storytelling is most powerful when it highlights the voices of the people in our community.

Making the most of big milestones

By the time graduation season arrived last spring, I started noticing a shift in momentum around our storytelling on social media. When heading into this season of celebration, I saw an opportunity to build community with a new group of students: seniors graduating from Making Waves Academy.

I knew we could draw from the energy, excitement, and pride of this milestone and I knew I had a unique perspective as an alum of Making Waves Academy.

Engagement increased significantly the more we highlighted the Class of 2025’s graduation. This included posting real time coverage of the graduation ceremony, writing and sharing their stories, and including their ideas for content creation.

This increase in engagement was not because of algorithms, but because these students saw themselves in content that felt authentic through short trendy reels.

Many of them followed, shared, commented, and reposted. During graduation season alone we got more than 50,000 views. Here is a look at how our views and followers drastically increased during graduation season because the content was consistent, relevant, shareable, and engaging.

Suddenly, when making content, I knew exactly who my audience was, not just digitally, but in person too.

Not only did I attend their graduation capturing videos and photos, but also was present during their First-Year Kick-Off, a three-day in-person orientation consisting of a college day, financial day, and career day for students to get to know their support team and get prepared for the next steps in their college and career journey.

This in-person connection gave me a deeper insight into our audience and reminded me that digital storytelling works best when creating relationships and visibility through physical space too.

Understanding the logistics of centering intern and student voices on social media

Now, after more than a year of testing and learning and building trust, the Making Waves Instagram account is intern and student-led.

This means that interns like me lead the content creation for our Instagram account – from brainstorming concepts to creating and reviewing content to scheduling and publishing. We produce a mix of program information and resources, authentic student stories, and community building content.

We got to this place by holding the focus groups, creating a high-level content strategy, and launching a central content calendar that aligns peer-to-peer marketing with Making Waves’ yearly goals. We developed a low-lift approval process and created a comprehensive guide for future interns and fellows.

The results

▪️ Our Instagram following has grown by more than 30%, from just under 500 to nearly 700 accounts, during the first year of my internship.
▪️ Our reach went from just over 1,600 accounts reached the quarter I started and a year later, we reached over 110,000 accounts, a 6,600% increase. We publish 2-3 posts per week, maintaining consistency while adapting to what resonated most.
▪️We’ve worked with 10+ Content Creator and Storytelling Fellows and students and alums to create additional peer-to-peer marketing.
▪️At the same time, Making Waves’ LinkedIn following increased 45% (with more than 1,000 new followers), because the content we are creating is resonating with our donor and supporter audiences as well.

Most importantly, I learned that success isn’t about going viral. It’s about building trust, amplifying voices, and creating a digital space where students feel represented and connected.

How my vision and career plans have changed moving forward

Looking ahead, I hope Making Waves’ platforms continue to highlight student voices, celebrate often overlooked communities, and offer a space where Wave-Makers feel they belong.

This internship didn’t just teach me technical skills, but also the magic of marketing and storytelling. I’ve learned that to make change, you have to be both creative and strategic. Social media can inform, but it can also empower and connect communities, shaping culture and driving real impact.

When I started, I wasn’t sure what career path I would take. Because of this internship experience, I added communications as a major so now I am double majoring in communications and NGOs and social change at USC. This role showed me that communications and marketing can be about amplifying voices and creating space for stories that need to be heard.

I went from being a first-year college student uncertain about my future to being a confident leader, creator, and storyteller. I’ve learned to take initiative, ask for help and feedback, and finding joy in every project that I do.

Moving forward, I hope to continue capturing stories, especially those that are unvoiced. I want to keep creating content that uplifts, challenges, and builds community. I want to continue improving my strategic skills to also help other nonprofits because now I truly see how much power social platforms can have to build visibility, engagement, and trust.

I’m incredibly grateful for this experience. For the mentorship, the creative freedom, and the chance to make an impact. This was more than an internship for me. It was a journey of self-discovery, leadership, and purpose.

As I continue building my skills, learning and creating, I hope to keep using media and storytelling to tell stories that matter and build spaces where others can feel seen and inspired. I can’t wait to see what’s next and keep pushing what’s possible for both Making Waves and the future that holds in store for me.

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