by Samantha Plumridge, ’25

I truly can’t believe how fast my time at The Compass Center has flown by as the Communications Intern for the spring 2024 semester. I didn’t expect to love this internship as much as I did, as it was my first internship, and I was not very knowledgeable when it comes to spirituality, faith, and vocational journeys.

I was eager to apply for this internship when I saw a poster on one of the tables in CCOM. I was curious to dive deeper into The Compass Center, as a tour guide I knew some of the bare bones of what it has to offer, but I was intrigued to learn more about what the Center truly does. I remember my interview at the Center, meeting Marguerite and Daniel for the first time. I was told I would be working closely with Marguerite throughout the semester, although I didn’t know what that truly entailed until starting my position in January.

Marguerite was a great resource for me to have during my time at the Compass Center, and honestly, I give a lot of my thanks to her for helping me grow and thrive in ways I never would have pictured. She believed in ideas that I had to make the Center grow, whether it was encouraging me to go to events we held or trusting me to expand our social media presence, she was an asset in the various projects I worked on over the course of the semester.

One of the projects that I am most proud of during my internship was our growing presence on TikTok. At the beginning of the semester, I told Marguerite how we could engage more with the student body, and recommended we do more on TikTok as a different way to show the many events and resources we offer. I made five TikToks during my internship: one about the release of our podcast “Compass Conversations” and, another regarding a day in my life as the communications intern. The third TikTok involved interviewing other interns about their experiences, one reflecting on our Cookies and Questions event, and a silly one following a popular TikTok trend. Throughout these five videos, the Center saw a spike in engagement with the videos, some even surpassing three thousand views! It was a big jump for the Center, and I truly cannot be grateful enough for the opportunity to drive this project.

In every project I tackled during my time at the Compass Center, I learned to push myself in new ways while learning more about myself. I am thankful for the wonderful staff I was able to work with during my time here, and always know that this community of people is supportive, and this is a place to see myself grow in the future.