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Rachel Flanery, who interned with the Family & Children’s Place Development team from March through September, was featured in the Brown Mackie College Summer Student Newsletter . Enjoy learning more about Rachel and her great work with and for the agency!

Rachel Flanery is about to graduate with an Associate’s in Business Management.

Life was not always easy for Rachel. She has been through the hard times that many of our students experience: divorce, housing troubles, job troubles, childcare troubles and the passing of an important family member. Yet Rachel did not let any of that slow her down. Instead, she used it as her motivation to make a change in order to live her dream and provide for her family.

Says Rachel, “I pushed through it, but that’s what you have to do. That’s part of being an adult.”

Rachel’s dream after she graduates is to work at Humana as a project manager, being the person who, as she describes, “keeps everybody on track – the cheerleader of the team.” Rachel knew that her schooling at Brown Mackie was one piece of the puzzle.

When an internship became available at Family & Children’s Place, in Louisville, Rachel took the advice of Career Services and of her many mentors at the school to grab this opportunity in order to gain essential job experience while going to school. An internship during school is a great way to enhance a student’s portfolio and give that student many skills that will be necessary in life and at work.

According to Rachel, her internship with Family & Children’s Place, “…has been a wonderful experience. …I feel like I’m giving back to the community. Everybody is nice and friendly. They’ve taught me how to do Excel. I do a lot of research and help around the office.”

Micah Jorrisch has worked with Rachel’s during her internship. Jorrisch states the mission of Family &  Children’s Place as, “We protect and heal families and children. We are the leading organization in Louisville focused on the issue of child neglect as well as family trauma.”

Jorrisch appreciates the partnership that Brown Mackie Louisville has formed with Family & Children’s Place, as well as the positive impact Rachel has had on the workplace while she has been there.

Says Jorrisch,  “Rachel has been a great asset on working on a number of projects that we otherwise would not have been able to do. It’s a no‐brainer for us to work with her. I’m sure she will be a success.”

Brown Mackie Louisville would like to thank Jorrisch & Family and Children’s Place for working together with our institution and our students to help them achieve their life goals. An internship with an organization whose work relates to what the student wants to do with his or her career is a valuable addition to that student’s work experience.

According to Jorrisch, at Family & Children’s Place, students “get practical knowledge, [such as] how to use Microsoft Suite, [and] gaining confidence with Internet research. [Interns learn] how to operate in a team and be in an office environment. Finding that first job is the most difficult thing you’ll ever do so this is an opportunity to get feedback, build a resume’, and get great references. Working in a nonprofit in particular, you get to have a lot more opportunities to make an impact as opposed to a large company.”

Thank you to Rachel for sharing her story and to Jorrisch and everyone at Family & Children’s Place, as well as our team at Career Services, for working together to create opportunity and dreams.

While being a student comes with many responsibilities, and many students also juggle work and families, we encourage students to consider the possibility of an internship while going to school as a method of advancing their marketability for the future, as well as their and comfort levels on the job – and even at school. For questions and possibilities, please visit our Career Services Office anytime!