About the Author:

Morgan Koth is a 2011 graduate of the University of Minnesota and summer intern for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Morgan documents her internship and life after college experiences each week in “The Internship Chronicles.” Be sure to connect with her on Twitter: @4goodmn

“A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.” -John Maxwell

For the post-graduate, great internships are more than resume builders; they offer the opportunity to develop professionally.  So, you’re thinking…what makes an internship a ‘great’ internship?  While copying papers and running to grab coffee for your supervisor may get you an ‘in’ at a company, I believe your time is more valuable than that. I believe a great internship is one that you gain experience from, but also an internship that fans the flames of your greatest passions, igniting a powerful vision for your future.

When I began to think about how I wanted to spend my life after college, I had to think about what my own flames were and what I could do to strengthen them. After a lot of thinking and countless conversations over cups of coffee with friends, I was certain of my passions to create opportunities of empowerment for young people, and to advocate for social justice. While the Make-A-Wish Foundation (my internship sponsor) may not encompass both of those passions, I am taking the first step by engaging in an opportunity that does inspire me.

So I have my dream internship…now what? To make it the internship that ignites a powerful vision for my future, I need to set intentions for myself.  

What is this internship going to mean for me–in a month, in a year, or maybe even the rest of my life?  What do I hope to accomplish? Where do I hope to be at the end of this experience (mentally, physically, spiritually)?

When I first interviewed at Make-A-Wish, my current supervisor prompted me that they wanted this internship to be intentional. I couldn’t believe it when I heard her say, “We consider our interns’ time valuable and want to create an opportunity for you that has a purpose of growth and development.”  …and they are sticking to it!

Last week they asked me to write-up a personal learning plan–a list of goals and outcomes to accomplish by September. I am still in the process of identifying and fine-tuning what my goals are; but, in case you are in an internship with little direction…keep reading.

During a senior seminar class in college we were also asked to create a personal learning plan based on the SMART logic model. The model itself is based upon 5 different aspects and can be applied to any goal.

SMART stands for:

S – Specific: What is the goal you are trying to accomplish? Use the 5 W’s:  Who, what, where, when, why to help shape the foundation of your goal.

M -  Measurable: How will you go about measuring or grading your progress towards the goal? Is it a quantitative, qualitative, or skill-based goal?

A – Achievable: If you build it, they will come. Are there specific skills you need to gain to create your future? If this goal orients around one of those skills…it is achievable.

R -  Realistic: Do you believe that you are capable and worthy of accomplishing the goal? Is it realistic…really? Is the goal enough of a challenge that you can reach it with considerable effort, or is it too easy or painstakingly difficult? We all want to be the best at what we do, but there is no reason to lose ourselves in a cause worth living for.  Take it easy, take it slow…be patient with yourself.  One of my life mottos: Like a good wine, every good thing takes time to become its best.

T – Time: When do you wish to accomplish this specific goal by?

As I build my personal learning plan for this summer, I have come up with a basic SMART goal example of my own:

• Specific: Gain knowledge through hands-on experience of the administrative tasks and duties of a non-profit organization.
• Measurable: Accomplish the following: 1) Know how to navigate Raiser’s Edge, update constituent information and perform searches. I will measure my progress based on the amount of assistance I need in completing any of the tasks, and how much I can accomplish given a particular amount of time. This goal will be satisfied when I can execute functions without assistance.
• Achievable: I want to pursue a career in development and knowledge of Raiser’s Edge, Excel, Adobe, etc. are crucial to making me both an attractive candidate and a valuable employee.
• Realistic: Yes.
• Time: I want to accomplish this goal by mid-July.

Once you have established your goals for your internship, your job, or even your life, you can establish ‘check-ins’ — progress checks with yourself (or a mentor) on where you are at with your goals? For myself, setting goals and being intentional about the opportunities I take advantage of (and don’t take advantage of) has created a sense of purpose and dare I say it, discernment. Who we are, who we want to be and where we want our lives to go can be difficult to discover but if we are intentional about that discovery it’s possible.

Are there goals that you are setting for yourself?  In your early-20s, what struggles did you face in discerning what it was that you wanted to do?  Or even who you wanted to be?