intern experience: mallory bush

From a young age, we are constantly being asked some version of “what do you want to be when you grow up?”, and that was a question that I always dreaded. I would always start my answer with “I think” and end it with “but I don’t really know” or “we’ll see”. Heading into college at Texas A&M, business seemed like the easiest answer, so I went with it and figured that I would make decisions about the specifics later. Surprisingly, my reluctance allowed God to shape what I thought I might want to do into something I would do for his glory. 

My freshman year of college, I never could have told you that my hesitant decision to major in business would turn into a passion for non-profits. Through my time with ServeHere, I have learned so much about the patience and the waiting that God calls us to as we navigate a world in which everything seems to be moving a mile a minute. Even further into that, I never could have told you that I would be placed in an internship with a nonprofit that serves the people that I have such a heart for. I could give you a list of dozens of technical skills that I learned during my internship (project management skills, website design, rebranding, donor management platforms, content creation, the list goes on), but my answer will always be that I got the chance to have a deeper understanding on how to better serve people from hard places. I learned methods of Trauma-Informed Care that can be applied to relationships in my own life. I had the chance to see numbers and statistics come to life and got the opportunity to work on a team who have personal passions that turned into career-driven goals. I worked with our partners to provide trainings for foster families who feel stuck or unprepared. These are all things that I would have never had the chance to experience firsthand in a classroom setting.

Specifically through Serve Here, I had the unique opportunity to experience community through our intentional time set aside every week with all of the interns to pour into the Word and hear from community leaders who have allowed God to guide their careers. I experienced a deep relationship with a mentor who was there to guide me through the ups and downs that are inevitable in any job. Overall, it was a remarkable experience in which I gained invaluable friendships, professional experience, mentorship, and a deeper relationship with Jesus. If you intern with ServeHere, I promise you that you will get to experience the same things.