This summer, I’m working at Get Lit, a Los Angeles based nonprofit whose mission is to empower youth by teaching them to write and perform slam poetry. Get Lit also supports its students by giving them a platform to express their thoughts, whether it be on stage or on camera. The organization’s impact is life-changing. Prior to applying for the job, I’d been to several of Get Lit’s slams. I even wanted to be a Get Lit poet, but their curriculum wasn’t offered in my high school. Now, it’s a dream come true to get to see the inner workings of an organization that I’ve admired for so long.
The main lesson I’ve learned while working at Get Lit is that my strange combination of skills is marketable. It’s possible to become gainfully employed as a Writing Seminars and Mathematics double major! It’s possible for me to meaningfully engage both sides of my brain in my daily life! My official title is Development & Strategy Intern, meaning that I handle organizational tasks such as running financial data and inputting donor info; however, by virtue of working for a nonprofit, I’m constantly reminded of the humanity within the data. For example, the numbers in our end-of-year income report don’t just represent money in the bank, they represent the students that we’ll be able to impact with our life-changing program. I’ve loved getting to do the analytical work that supports creativity, and it doesn’t hurt to work in an office plastered with beautiful words.
