Intern Spotlight: Tobi

In Toledo, our staff at US Together said goodbye to one of our star summer interns, Tobi, and wished her well as she left to complete her education. In a recent interview, the college student said she recommends US Together internships to anyone interested because of the valuable work experience the agency rewards students with.

Tobi worked in intermediate and beginner English classes during her summer with US Together Toledo, teaching Spanish-speaking refugee clients how to speak, read, and write in English. She worked closely with and was supervised by Melody Reese, our ESL teacher.

COVID-19 restricted her ability to teach in a classroom, which was one downside of her ability to serve refugee clients. She noted how virtual teaching can provide new challenges that in-person teaching typically may not have.

By the end of her internship, her students were able to write an essay entirely in English, which, as she reminds, is no small accomplishment. “Writing an essay is kind of daunting,” she pointed out, adding, “I’m proud of the work I was able to do.”

Now that her internship is successfully complete, Tobi solidified her education and career path. She had been majoring and Spanish and English, with a minor in Human Rights, prior to her internship, and since then she’s decided to switch her English major to Public Affairs.

“Prior to the summer, I had an inkling that I wanted to work in the nonprofit sphere. The internship solidified that, and it gave me a final push to change my major,” she said. “It gave me more of a direction of what I want to do post-graduation.”

Tobi also gave some advice to future interns: “Take a leap of faith and be willing to reach out to somebody. As much as you might have anxiety coming in, don’t be afraid to ask questions.”

As our former intern continues her education with her new major, everyone at US Together Toledo wishes her the best of luck! We look forward to working with all of our future interns.