Ashley Harlan:

Hey everyone,
Today I will discuss my experiences as a first-time intern this semester! After being in college for several years, I decided I was ready to become an intern and gain knowledge and skill sets that can only be obtained through hands-on experience in a professional field. This urge to learn more led me to enroll in COLA (College of Liberal Arts) 402 and become an intern for a counseling group known as Smee Wellness LLC. Smee Wellness LLC is a women-owned business run by a professional counselor named AK Smee. She has been in the business for several years, but recently began her practice in Las Vegas two years ago. As a small business, AK needed help with several different

aspects of the job such as marketing, social media, and engagement with other local professionals and groups. Admittedly, I have spent most of the semester engaging with new and old clients on Instagram to build up our social media following and allow for more networking opportunities. I am on

the Instagram page every single day and have noticed a positive connection between activity and gaining new followers, clients, and more views. At first, it was very slow but now that I have gained momentum the account continues to grow and flourish every day. Along with this, I had several meetings with local doctors, lawyers, and other professionals to create a networking system where we could provide mutual referrals for one another. This allowed me the opportunity to meet new people and build my network as well as understand the importance of mutually beneficial business referrals. Lastly, I did some marketing by going to different events in Las Vegas such as singles

events or charity events that bring together women, small businesses, and like-minded professionals.

My favorite task was going to these events and creating connections with new people I would not have met otherwise. For this particular internship, the educational requirements were easy to fulfill, and skills I already had. For example, my internship required that I know how to write in a professional tone, know the basics of Psychology, and be proficient in Microsoft applications. A skill that I did learn while working as an intern was how to have emotional empathy as well as the importance of HIPPA. I was trained on HIPPA before the beginning of my internship and it has been an invaluable tool as someone who I want to become a therapist in the future. I will also have to learn more about Psychology and the basics of counseling in the future, but that is something I will be focusing on when I attend graduate school later on. For now, I feel that I possess several educational skills that I need, and look forward to gaining more in the future as I continue my education and keep working for other people in similar fields. This internship has taught me invaluable skills that I would have never learned in school. The biggest skill I learned was how to beat my social anxiety and open up to others to create a powerful network. AK helped me understand the importance of having confidence in yourself and using that confidence to do something with yourself and your business. Before this, I was extremely anxious about talking with new people in general, but now I am much more open to meeting strangers and seeing where the connection leads. Another skill that will help in the future is understanding the behind-the-scenes of running a counseling office. I learned so many different things such as how to deal with insurance, how to follow HIPPA when reaching out to clients and meeting with them, and what it takes to run a business on your own. AK does most of her work on her own and I got to experience firsthand the pressure it puts on you and how you must divide your time up to be successful. Watching AK do all of this by herself was not only inspiring but encouraged me to put my best foot forward when it comes to the work I do for her and this company. Watching the company and our network grow over the last

A few months have been amazing and inspiring. I am so happy that I have been a part of this growth and could support such an amazing business.

As mentioned before, this internship was for a counselor which is a psychology-related profession. I chose this internship in particular because it is women-owned, accepts and supports the LGBTQIA+ community, and is a small business that is only at the beginning of its journey. I wanted to be a part of

something that followed my views and morals while also supporting people and groups that need it. Before accepting this internship, I was going to intern for a bigger foundation but I am glad I did this internship instead because it felt more personal. I knew I was making an impact because I was the

only other people working on growing this business and supporting it to the best of my abilities. It also helped me garner a personal connection with AK that I will have for the rest of my life. Her wisdom and kindness have made me feel much better about the future and how prepared I am to one day

become a licensed therapist. Following this internship, I am certain that I still want to become a therapist in the future. I have seen

the hardships of running this type of business and the toll it can take on your health, but I am still very inspired to do this in the future. I believe being a mental health professional is a very hard job to have but I also believe it is very fulfilling and the care that is provided for these clients is invaluable. If I can

changing just one person’s life, this profession will be worth it for me. The only difference in how I felt before the internship versus now is that I think I would rather work with adults than children. Although counseling for children is important, it does not speak to me like it did before and I would rather work

with adults. To embark on this career journey, I will be attending a graduate school in the future and will continue to volunteer and intern for other counselors or lab groups that have similarities to what I

I want to achieve this in the future. By building up my resume, I also will acquire more knowledge and skills that can benefit me in the future.

All in all, interning has been such a fun and educational experience for me as I finish my final semester of college. I am so thankful for all of the things I have learned and the lifelong connections Ihave made. A future as a therapist sounds like a dream, and I cannot wait to achieve that dream soon!