By Vicki Ungvarsky
While attending Tri-C, I highly recommend taking advantage of the annual Summer Internship Program Interview Fair. I attended in February 2025, submitted my resume, and interviewed with a few organizations. Not everyone gets hired. I, however, was fortunate because an autism resource organization chose me for Tri-C to hire as their event planning intern. After completing the internship, I ruled out event planning as a future career. Why do I still view it as a success?
Firstly, I had always wanted to become involved with the organization as I am passionate about their cause – helping people on the spectrum, as well as their caregivers and families. My autistic son is the inspiration behind this interest. I met a long-term goal I had set in 2014 after his diagnosis! A bucket list item was checked off as well. Not only did I help plan their annual conference event, as part of my intern responsibilities, I attended and worked throughout it. As an autism mom, I had been meaning to attend for quite some time. During the two-day event, I was able to attend an autism parent support group for the first time and received some information that will be beneficial to future planning for my son. I was also permitted to sit in on an educational panel.
New skills were introduced to me throughout the internship, particularly those concerning technology. I sharpened other skills that had served as reasons I had gotten hired. Each staff member was beyond excellent with teaching me further skill development. My resume has been updated to include these skills. At the conclusion of the internship, my direct supervisor gave me permission to use her as a professional reference – a top goal to reach.
About a month later, I received a pleasant surprise. The supervisor contacted me to serve as a panelist to educate medical students on how to best help any autistic patients, particularly those who are nonverbal like my son. Public speaking experience was added to my resume, and I am on the list to serve on other panels when appropriate.
My advice for anyone interning is to keep lines of courteous and professional communication open with all staff throughout the experience. Ask for opportunities to learn more skills and concepts. Let the staff know that you are open to feedback. These are some of the things I did to create my own success. To summarize, the internship itself and the skills gained and sharpened throughout it may look impressive on a resume but shoot higher. Being asked to return to fulfill more roles or gaining a recent supervisor as a professional reference may be just as, if not more beneficial and create more success for you!
