Intern Reflections: Myia Samuels

Hi everyone! My name is Myia Samuels and I am a current undergraduate student at Virginia Commonwealth University studying Sociology and Political Science. This past summer I interned with ReEstablish Richmond as a Volunteer Engagement Intern and while my time here was short, it truly was memorable. During my academic studies in the past year, I struggled with deciding what I wanted to do with my life after graduation (as many students do). With the current political climate and coming from an immigrant family myself, I chose to focus my efforts on migration. After doing a few online searches and talking to professors, I came across ReEstablish Richmond and applied for a student internship. I was so excited to hear when I was offered this opportunity, as this could mark the beginning of my journey towards helping refugee and immigrant communities. Although COVID-19 took away the chance to work with this organization in person, I was still able to learn so much.  

As a Volunteer Engagement Intern, one of my main tasks was to do check-ins with matched volunteers to ensure that they were making progress with client goals and to provide any additional support if needed. From these check-ins I was able to get a bit of insight on how involved the volunteers are with our clients and saw how enthusiastic they are to help. It was also great to hear the stories of more developed client-volunteer matches during staff meetings and to celebrate their progress and accomplishments. A significant moment during this internship was when I was tasked with another intern to create a video for World Refugee Day, which became a virtual event this year. Because of COVID-19 and the length of my internship, I didn’t really get the chance to interact with clients face-to-face. But this deep dive into ReEstablish Richmond's past photos as well as gathering information on the organization's overall increase in numbers was so inspiring. I was able to see the smiling faces and moments of volunteers in action, which are things I couldn’t see in person.  

Coming into this internship I wanted to learn more about the ways in which refugee and immigrant communities can be helped, and I did. I learned that there isn’t just one way to help an entire population of people. You have to actively listen to each person’s concerns and act in ways that are respectful, equitable, and empowering for them and their experiences. Committing to collaboration in addition to maintaining these values is critical and this is evident in the work this organization does. From my short time being here, I’ve seen how passion and empathy turn into impactful actions that focus on improving the lives of others. Each staff member and volunteer is invested in hearing the concerns within Richmond’s refugee community and supporting them in the best ways possible. Even in the midst of a pandemic, these values and goals were not lost.  

As a whole, I greatly enjoyed this internship! Although it was difficult to say goodbye to the amazing people I got the opportunity to work with, I know that the values and the lessons I’ve learned from them will stay with me as my journey continues.