Why I Chose to Become an Intern

This is a post in a series of reflections during the COVID-19 pandemic. To read other reflections, please go to the Pandemic Reflections page.

Lauren Lee

Hi, I’m Lauren and I’ll be sharing a small reflection on my time in quarantine and why I chose to become an intern. The past few months have been pretty interesting to say the least, and I’m sure our experiences are pretty similar as we all quarantine. At first, I was really happy to be able to go back home early. However, there were some challenges in finishing up the school year as a student. The transition to online learning, having seminars and discussions via Zoom, and finishing assignments wasn’t the easiest. After finishing school and officially starting the summer, I started to look for things to fill the time with and tried to find new hobbies as well. I miss being able to see friends, be at church to see all of you in person, and just do the things that we used to be able to do. Deep down, I could sense myself slowly becoming indifferent and anxious for what’s to come after this pandemic. 

These feelings and wanting to get back to a more routine lifestyle lead me to apply for the internship. This internship came at a time when I felt like I had reached a dip in my faith journey. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to stay grounded, continue growing in my faith, and serve the community. And I was really excited to become an intern as I had a very fulfilling and great experience during last year’s internship too. 

There are a lot of interesting projects that we’ll be part of this summer. But in particular, I’m looking forward to just serving our church community and potentially participating in missional and outreach services to different communities and organizations that might need our help! 

So, please look forward to the work that the interns are doing and thank you for listening!

Sarah Choe

Hello, my name is Sarah, and I’m going to be one of the interns this Summer. I’m just gonna say it: quarantine sucks. When our schools stopped having in-person classes we didn’t know what was going to happen next. We soon found out though that online classes suck, online tests suck, and when those are over, quarantine still sucks. In the fall we will return to online classes, and yes, it will probably suck just as much as it just did last semester, but there’s not much we can do about it. During this time, it was really easy to focus on things I cannot control, and I can’t help but feel helpless sometimes. I feel as though the things I’ve been most looking forward to have been taken away, and there are so many things I’m uncertain of. Although I miss being able to see my friends. It’s not that I can’t see them right now that frustrates me, but that the possibility of seeing them in the future has been taken away. There seems to be a lot of opportunities that COVID-19 has taken away. The opportunity to make new friends, the opportunity to excel in school, the opportunity to properly invest in our futures, and the opportunity to fully enjoy life. In addition to this feeling of loss, I have a lot of questions that just can’t be answered right now like what will my classes be like? Where will I live in the fall? How long will this go on? And most importantly: How is COVID-19 going to shape my future?

I hope that throughout this summer, I can focus more on things that I enjoy and learn to appreciate life in quarantine. Being an intern in the past has allowed me to learn about myself and grow spiritually, which is something I need especially now. I know that this internship can be a rewarding experience where I can serve people I care about and learn more about my own faith. This internship is also something that I’m really looking forward to. I can’t wait to reconnect with the people I get to work with, and the people I will bother, I mean encourage, to join Zoom calls. Kidding aside, I truly hope that we can connect even more as a community.

This is a post in a series of reflections during the COVID-19 pandemic. To read other reflections, please go to the Pandemic Reflections page.