This week, student editor Regan Meyer interviewed senior Christiana Duerksen to ask her about her summer internship with Southeast Psych Nashville. Below is the transcribed interview*:

RM: What grade are you in at Belmont?

CD: I am a Senior, graduating this December.

RM: What is your major?

CD: I am a Corporate Communication and Psychology, double major.

RM: Where was your internship this summer?

CD: I interned this Summer at Southeast Psych Nashville, a therapy office in Brentwood.

RM: What was the application process like for your internship?

CD: Dave Verhaagen, my boss, had emailed Belmont inquiring about interns and I saw his inquiry through one of Dr. Webb’s department emails that he regularly sends about internship opportunities. It was actually a very relaxed process, so I sent Dave my resume and I structured my email like a cover letter. He emailed me back and scheduled an interview. The interview itself was also pretty relaxed. He mostly asked about what I could contribute to the community and what relevant experience I had. However one question that he asked that I actually thought was particularly interesting, was he asked me to ask about a time that I learned from difficulty or failure. I thought that was a great question that really looked for things like resiliency, commitment, and positivity. However, the interview was also really fun and definitely didn’t feel like a high-pressure, intense situation. It was more inviting than intimidating.

RM: How did you prepare for this interview/position?

CD: I prepared for the interview by looking at their website. Southeast Psych also runs two media companies, Psychbytes.com and Shrinktank.com. So I familiarized myself with some of their articles and podcasts. This way I was able to mention them during our conversation in the interview.

RM: What was the most important thing you learned from this experience?

CD: The most important thing I learned was to share my ideas and to work as an equal. I think it’s really easy to trap yourself in the “I’m-just-the-intern” mentality and not share your thoughts. But you have so much that you can contribute to whatever company you’re with, regardless of how short of a time it may be. During our weekly media team meetings, I made a point to offer valid feedback and to find ways to propose my own ideas as well. Because I spoke up and shared my thoughts, we actually ended up having all the interns (both in Nashville and in Charlotte) write featured articles for Psych Bytes in a quasi-mental-health series focused on being written by college students, for college students. I think by stepping out of that traditional intern role, I was able to learn so much about how the business worked, and I felt like I was genuinely contributing.

RM: How did it/Did it prepare you for the industry you want to go into?

CD: Southeast Psych Nashville is primarily a therapy office, and even though I’m also a Psychology major, I don’t plan on becoming a therapist. It’s something that I love learning about, and I find incredibly interesting, but I know it wouldn’t be the right career path for me. However, I do want to study Industrial-Organizational Psychology in graduate school, and specifically, I hope to really specialize in organizational culture. Southeast Psych has one of the most incredible cultures, and I think that this is the most beneficial thing that I took from this experience. They truly do work as a family more than as colleagues. Their biggest focus is having fun together, and they absolutely embody that goal in every sense of the word, even to the point that the clients are aware of just how lighthearted the culture in the office is. There’s video games, bean bags, put-put, music, laughter, and genuine community. If I plan to study organizational culture, Southeast Psych really was the very best example of what a thriving workplace culture looks like.

RM: Was there anything that surprised you or that you did not expect?

CD: I did not expect to be treated as an equal member of the team going into this internship. A lot of other internships out there typically have their interns doing odd jobs, or really placed in more of a background role. But from the very beginning at Southeast Psych, I felt like I was truly an equal. I felt as if my opinions were always valued, I never felt minimized or looked down upon, and I always felt like they were truly appreciative of our contributions. It really was an environment that fostered growth and independence. I never felt micromanaged and they gave me the freedom to make my own decisions and then they trusted those decisions. After such a positive interview experience, I expected it to be a good environment, but I really had no idea the scale of that positivity.

*The answers from this interview have been condensed