Reflecting Back on My Jezuba Experience

The Experience
Jezuba is essentially my first formal internship experience. Working for a non-profit, working remotely, and working in a role that I did not have much prior experience in made this internship unique and even more full of firsts. I joined the Jezuba  team a week later than everyone else, and at that point it seemed like all the interns had their roles figured out as they shared their weekly updates while I was still trying to understand how everything fit together. Soon enough, though, I settled in, starting to understand more and more about Jezuba’s mission and values as I took time to brainstorm ways to better present website content and messages. 
 
The main focus of my internship work was on website development and content creation for any new updates or upcoming Jezuba  events. At first, I thought that my role was pretty straightforward and therefore not the most exciting. However, I soon came to realize how much more could be done with my role, whether it be design aesthetics, content generation, or improving user experience. 
 
Each week, I focused on 1-2 main tasks, from creating new page sections to adding products to our online store. I asked myself questions like how should the home page be reorganized to effectively present Jezuba’s work and mission in a concise manner? How do I get users to easily understand what Jezuba  is about and navigate through the site? I really enjoyed this idealization process, and also loved exploring and searching for new tool features to be implemented. I spent a lot of time trying out new features and testing their compatibility with the current website style, and also worked to find new ways of utilizing such tools. It was 8 weeks full of continuous testing, experimentation, and communicative updates.
 
My Change
Reflecting back, I think a big takeaway for me from this internship is that I really need take the time to explore different fields and roles before I pin myself down to focus on one specific area. Before Jezuba, I had always imagined myself doing business management/finance related work with my economics major. However, being exposed to website design and seeing how I lose track of time pursuing certain aesthetic feels and styles made me realize how much I enjoy doing such work. Now, I find myself looking into UI/UX design opportunities and developing an interest in product design. Even though I am branching out, I actually feel less lost than before on what I want to do in my future. It’s not that I am going to change my major or forego economics, but that I understand it is worthwhile and okay to be pursuing new things, even if it has nothing to do with what I am studying. I have come to understand that such change is not scary or necessarily bad either.
 
Full of Thanks
Lastly, I just want to take a moment to say thank you to everyone on the team who has made this summer such an awesome experience. I really liked how this internship not only emphasized working on your specific role and responsibilities but also about understanding and hearing other people’s achievements and updates over the weeks. I enjoyed hearing everyone’s progress and it really served to motivate me more as well. I appreciate the times when we weren’t discussing anything work-related, but rather getting to know each other through discussions on other important topics such as the “30s is the new 20s” TED talk.  
 
I truly enjoyed my experience and hope all the best to Jezuba in the future!
 
 
Emily Huang
Web Developer