Interns Take On Meaningful Roles

By Ellen Poltilove

Interested in being an intern with AARP Maryland? We're hiring! View the available opportunities and apply here. 

Emily Abramson looked for a public health internship. Addison O’Shea wanted an internship where she could use her communications skills.

Both landed at AARP Maryland, where each day they use their backgrounds to advocate for the 50-plus population.

“It’s very rare I find an organization I stand by 100 percent,” said Abramson, who lives in Baltimore. “AARP is one of those organizations. Every issue we take a stance on, I’m with them.”

“Whatever you think AARP is, it’s a million times better,” said O’Shea, of Kent Island. “It’s really meaningful work.”

The irony isn’t lost on them that they are in their 20s working for an organization focusing on the 50-plus demographic.

Abramson’s peers, she said, have commented about her being “too young for that job.”
O’Shea initially didn’t know the scope of AARP. “I just thought it was discounts, to be honest,” she said. But she has come to realize “what I do now will help my generation later and help my parents and grandparents.”

Abramson, 23, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and public health from Goucher College, where she is pursuing her master’s in management.

She started as the community outreach intern in January 2017. Last spring she helped plan Harvest for the Hungry. Now she leads the 2018 effort, coordinating with food banks and grocery stores and organizing volunteers who help collect the food
donations.

“I’m incredibly passionate about this,” Abramson said. “In the United States, no one should go hungry.”

Abramson impresses her supervisor, Joy Hall, associate state director of community outreach. “She is able to understand our strategic vision and take the lead on projects,” Hall said. Abramson and O’Shea, “bring another element of energy to the office.”

Tapping into social media
O’Shea, 23, received a bachelor’s in journalism from West Virginia University, where she is working on a master’s in integrated marketing communications.

She has been the AARP communications intern since February 2017. She writes social media posts, blogs and the monthly newsletter, and helps coordinate the Social Squad. Through this initiative, people can sign up with AARP to receive social media posts that they can share.

“When people think social media, the 50-plus population doesn’t come to mind,” O’Shea said. But “everyone can probably think of at least three to five people they know who are 50-plus and on Facebook.”

O’Shea teaches social media seminars to local chapters and, during the state legislative session, travels to Annapolis to create “Delegation Friday” videos about current issues.

She is especially proud of a video she made featuring then-Maryland state president Clarence “Tiger” Davis caring for his mother, who is in her late 90s. The video was posted on Facebook last Mother’s Day.

“For one of the first times, I really saw my work as a success,” O’Shea said. “This video ended up being shared across the country.”

Nancy Carr, associate state director for communications, said O’Shea “encourages us to try new things, especially with social media and digital. Addison can turn around a video in an hour.”

O’Shea and Abramson bring the information they’ve learned from the classroom into the AARP office, Carr said, and they are comfortable with the newest technology.

Just as AARP Maryland learns from O’Shea and Abramson, O’Shea and Abramson say the internship helps prepare them for careers.

O’Shea wants to do communications for a nonprofit, where she can “tell stories that have heart.”

Abramson aspires to public health project management. Interning at AARP is introducing her to creating spreadsheets, taking meeting minutes, organizing large events and understanding legislation.

“In learning such a wide variety of skills through this job, I’m setting myself up for success in a variety of future career paths,” she said. “The work I’m doing here will be applicable and helpful for me regardless of where I end up.”

For the latest internship job postings with AARP Maryland, visit the AARP Careers page.

Ellen Poltilove is a writer living in North Potomac, Md.