By Heather Cass
Publications Manager, Office of Strategic Communications,  Penn State Behrend

Carlie Bright, far right, a senior communication major, did a summer internship at United Way of Erie County.  Also in the photo are, from left, Jana Ranus of Wegmans, Donald Snyder of Curtze Food Service, and Lisa Fischer, United Way campaign accounts manager. The three women were awarding Synder, a United Way donor, with a “prize surprise” Wegmans shopping spree.

Carlie Bright, who was born and raised in Erie, thought she knew her hometown. Then she did a summer internship at United Way of Erie County.

“I developed a whole new understanding for the community I grew up in,” Bright said. “It was very eye-opening for me. There are a lot more people struggling than I ever knew.”

Bright, a senior communication major at Penn State Behrend, worked as a marketing and communications intern for the nonprofit agency, which serves as a coalition of charitable organizations. Bright won a stipend from Behrend’s Academic and Career Planning Center, which made the three-credit experience free for her.

“Unpaid internships, like the one that I did at United Way, can be difficult for students to manage, so the stipend really helped,” she said.

Bright worked three days a week from May to August and said every day was different.

“There was no typical day because nonprofit communications departments are usually run by a few people who are faced with a wide variety and number of tasks,” she said. “But no matter what I had on my plate on a given day, I was almost always involved with website updates, scheduling social media posts, and clipping or collecting any media mentions United Way had received.”

She got to try her hand at designing flyers and creating content for electronic newsletters. She also assisted in the planning and preparation of many community events, including National Night Out, an anti-violence community initiative that took place in twenty locations on one night.

“Many of the events and activities that I was involved with were moving and inspiring,” Bright said.

The experience was also enlightening.

“Overall, the internship tied in very well with my career goals and objectives, as well as with my degree and coursework,” Bright said. “I was able to see firsthand how communications and marketing tie into every department in any business or organization. I also learned that communications professionals wear a lot of hats. Personally, I loved constantly having so many things to do.”