Name: Desiree Bagot
Class Year: 2024
Major: Sociology
Minor: Health Studies
Hometown: Bryn Mawr, PA
Internship Organization: Philadelphia FIGHT
Job Title: HR Intern
Location: Philadelphia, PA
What's happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!
At my internship, I am doing a bit of everything related to human resources and community outreach. On the HR side of things, I have been to onboarding sessions and seen how new employees are introduced to the workplace, organized confidential paperwork for both active and inactive employees, assisted employees in making sure that important documents related to HIPAA, internet privacy, etc. are signed, among many other things. On the community outreach side of things, I have scheduled venue tours and gathered information on catering and rental prices for a future gala, managed and coordinated incoming volunteers for a clothing drive volunteer opportunity, and attended community advisory board meetings, among other things! I've had the chance to explore so many administrative and community outreach responsibilities, and I'm so happy to have a mix of different tasks every day!
Why did you apply for this internship?
I have always been passionate about equitable healthcare and sex education, and Philadelphia FIGHT's mission and values follow these ideals. Although I am not working directly with patients in a healthcare setting, I get to see how community health centers function on an administrative and community level.
What has been your favorite part of this internship?
My favorite part of my internship has been being able to be a part of the close-knit community at Philadelphia FIGHT — and especially within the department I am a part of. I look forward to coming into my internship every day because I know that I have a group of people who support me and believe in me. My supervisors and coworkers also work to make sure that any questions or anything specific I want to learn within the organization is met or will be met. Overall, the sense of community and mutual respect between members of the organization and the supervisors has been notable.
Was this internship what you expected it to be?
Honestly, the internship was not what I expected it to be. Because I was expecting to do only administrative work, I figured that most of the work I would do would be independent, and I would simply be at my office space organizing papers or organizing my supervisor’s schedule. Although some of my work is independent, I also am working on projects that are team-oriented. I have had the opportunity to join in on onboarding training and meetings to prepare for PrEP week, which is a week dedicated to HIV awareness. I was also not expecting to already know so many different people in the organization, especially those in the different buildings that FIGHT has, which include clinics and the Institute for Community Justice. Overall, my experience at FIGHT has been an eye-opening and welcoming one that I continue to cherish.
Visit the Summer Internship Stories page to read more about student internship experiences.