The AUN Presidential Internship is a program which AUN has provided to students with the opportunity of preparing them for real life job situation experiences before going out to the real world. I was opportune to be selected for the FALL 2022 Presidential Internship as a beneficiary of this program where I worked as the Presidential Intern in the Office of the Dean of Campus Life and Student Affairs.
AUN provided me with the opportunity to work with the Student Affairs Department which is headed by Dean Byron Bullock. I got the opportunity to work with all the staff that handle different offices under the Student Affairs Department such as Campus Life, Student Activities, Academic Advising and Retention, Career Services, Community Service, Psychology, and Athletics.
I acquired a lot of work experience from sitting in the office and attending to students, taking minutes of meetings during the meetings with the various department heads where I was also allowed to contribute and give my ideas. I had the opportunity to work with the best boss ever as he always carried me along whatever he was doing so that I did not miss out on anything including visiting each departmental head to learn more about the various departments they oversaw.
It was a wonderful, exciting, and knowledgeable experience as I got to understand why certain things run the way they do and to understand why certain decisions are made; this has given me an edge over my mates without this experience. I was able to also put myself in the position of a staff and not just a student to see why things do not always run the way we expect them to. I also got paid each of the months I worked to serve as my salary for not only working but also being able to combine my studies and working in an office together. This provided additional opportunities to invest and save for desired purchases.
In all, I have learned time management, people, and managerial skills as well as become better at processing information for effective decision-making, empathy in leading people, and financial management. My advice to other AUN students is to take the Presidential Internship program because it gives you a life-changing experience that will prepare and equip you for real-world situations and work in any office.
Phoebe Anuoluwa Phillips
Communication and Multimedia Design