My Princeternship experience at DonorsChoose.org started long before I stepped into their office. It started when I clicked onto their website, and I could immediately tell this organization was unique.

DonorsChoose.org seamlessly combines their mission of funding public school projects nationwide with an online platform, making it easier than ever for education supporters to contribute. So, I was ecstatic when I learned I would be visiting DonorsChoose.org! Before coming, Andrew gave me a gift-code to experience what it is like to be a donor on the website. After looking through the projects, it was hard to decide which to support, because they were all so meaningful.

My day at DonorsChoose.org started with a tour from Andrew, and I was impressed by the openness and creativity of the space. Andrew then led me over to the “Playground” (the rooms are given school inspired names) for my first meeting with Risa. She explained to me how, like Andrew, she decided during her time at college that she wanted to work for a nonprofit. Next, I spoke with talked with Taylor from Finance, whose journey through different careers made her realize that working in education was her passion. I then had the pleasure of sitting in on a marketing and community team meeting where I learned how DonorsChoose.org provides incentives to encourage teachers to start new projects. In Math, I met with Ali from partnerships, who, before working for DonorsChoose.org was a teacher. She told me firsthand how the interface of DonorsChoose.org has changed since its inception. Maggie, the product manager, then discussed her recent transition from a university to DonorsChoose.org and how she took what she was passionate about in college to her career.

Next, I met with Liam in Community Engagement. He showed me an inside view of the thank you packages that DonorsChoose.org sends out to their donors after projects receive full funding. As a fledgling engineer, I was very excited to meet with César, who completed a mechanical engineering undergraduate degree. He discussed with me how his passion for education led him to find DonorsChoose.org.

Once again in art, I met with Abby, from Marketing. Having worked at several online-platform companies, Abby had a lot of experience to share.

Finally, I met with Aubrey, who explained to me how new employees get hired at DonorsChoose.org. Her commitment to considering each applicant made the future process of applying to jobs a much less scary prospect for me.

As I left DonorsChoose.org, I realized why it is such a special place. Not only is it an enormous benefit to our schools and a great workplace, everyone there is incredibly invested in what they do. As I follow my path through Princeton and beyond, I have learned that as long as I continue working in what I am passionate about, I will be successful.