My SITC Experience: Nana Phillips (Q&A)

Semester in the City provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; our hands-on internship program allows you to develop professionally, experience mentorship, and make a difference in people’s lives all while living in Boston with like-minded students.

We recently reached out to our amazing SITC alumni to help share just how much of an impact the program can have in their own words.

The following blog post is an interview with UMass Dartmouth's Nana Phillips who was a part of our Spring 2020 cohort and interned with Victory Programs: she talks about why she was interested in SITC, going about her internship amidst the COVID pandemic, and what it was like having a mentor. Thanks for your thoughtful answers Nana!

*Note parts of this interview have be edited and condensed for clarity.

Can you talk to me a little bit about why you were interested in joining the Semester in the City program? 

I used to see flyers about Semester in the City posted around [UMass Dartmouth], but for some reason I just thought it was another study abroad-type situation. I'm like, "Yeah, I don't know how that's going to work." So, I never really paid mind to it. Then Ilona (SITC's Director of Partnerships and Recruitment) and Erica, I think she's an alum, they came to my Research Methods class and they were talking about the program, and I'm like, "Oh, Oh, I like this! This sounds really good!" You get the opportunity to live in Boston. It's kind of like study abroad, but you're still here. You're not on campus so you still get the feel of going away. 

And me personally, I love Boston, so I thought, "Oh my goodness! This is great. I get to do an internship!" [An internship is] a requirement for my major, and a lot of the majors at schools. [Through SITC] you're getting an internship done. You're getting the experience to live in Boston. You're taking classes. Overall, it's going to be an enriching experience. So, I'm like, "Oh yeah, I'm definitely down." 

At that point too I just felt like my time in school had become a routine − like I was doing the same thing. Not to say there was nothing there for me on Campus − I still had super amazing teachers. I took amazing courses that really opened my eyes [that] I gained a lot from, but I just felt like there was something missing. This experience was definitely what was missing that I wanted to get.

Diving into your experience - you get into the Semester in the City program - where did you intern and what was the project like that you were working on throughout your semester? 

So, I interned at Victory Programs; I was specifically at the Boston Living Center. The organization [provides] services, resources, basically anything to families and individuals suffering from homelessness, chronic illnesses, HIV/AIDS, mental health issues and stuff like that. Therefore, [with] my special project I had to plan, promote, and create a volunteer appreciation event. Two of the programs at the Boston Living Center, where I was at, and at the ReVision Urban Farm we [had] a lot of volunteers that [came] in − whether [they were] from schools, people from the community [and] outside of the community, businesses/organizations coming to volunteer [by] working the farm or, where I was, serving meals, hosting some programs − anything like that.

So, I was in charge of planning [this appreciation event] to say, "Hey! Thank you for all y'all do. We really appreciate each and every single person that contributes. We don't see y'all as, 'Okay, another group comes to volunteer and bye-bye!'" No. We have people who were volunteering there for years; I think one lady had been there for ten years! So, I think it was just a really nice way to say thank you.

Do you feel that working with [Victory Programs] made you want to [continue to] give back once you finished your semester? 

Yeah, definitely! The funny thing is our semester was right in the smack-middle of COVID. I remember talking to my mentor; I was like, "Oh, I want to come back and volunteer − whether it was at where I was at or the farm." Just what they do, I was like, "Oh yeah, I definitely want to do stuff like this." [My mentor] gave me [a] signup where they have different volunteer opportunities that were in the Boston area, and you would get e-mails that'd be like, "They're doing this here." But then you know? COVID - it stopped a lot of things. 

How did COVID affect the day-to-day of your internship and how did you finish with COVID going on?  

Obviously, I commuted. The commute was super easy, and I went in a little bit later. I started at eleven, so I'm like, "Thank God!" Cause' I'm not a morning person, so the fact that I got to go in a little bit later was nice; so, you get into the routine of all of that. This was a new experience for all of us. Public transportation. Crossing streets. They're not my strong suits. If I see a big road, I'm like, "Woah! This is too much for me. I don't think I can do it!" So, figuring out how to get from point A to point B, and then when COIVD hit just stopping all of that; it was a bit hard adjusting from the whole working from home thing. 

Especially sometimes for me I wouldn't really take a lot of good self-care days. I would go hours and late, late, into the night just finishing assignments because I'd be hard on myself. It was really hard, but the good thing is that my mentor was there. She was understanding. I explained my situation to her; she [gave] me webinars to watch that had to deal with working from home - some strategies. We sent up a system where during the week around [noon] she would check up on me to see how everything's going. Do I have any questions? Just to see where I'm at she literally created a schedule for me like, "Okay, on Monday this is what you need to do and the time..." It was more to keep me on schedule and keep me focused; on Thursdays we would have an hour long meeting just to talk about things overall and what was due the next week. Those really helped keep me grounded and balanced because it was very hard working from home.

What was it like having a mentor in your corner throughout the semester? 

It was great if I'm quite honest. I don't know how many other internships really do that. This was very new to all of us, and even if people had done internships before the way in which the program was doing it was very different. Having that support system of your mentor, who you basically spent a lot of your time with and you worked with a lot of the time, was very nice.  

Having my mentor there and them applying for that mentorship role - this is something [they] want to do − it makes me feel good. They wanted to bring the best out of us and be there to support us in any way they [could] which was really, really, nice. If I had any question I could go to my mentor. She helped me with my professional development. She helped me with everything. I remember when we had our first classes on Wednesday she literally gave me directions. She gave me Museum of Science tickets because she works there. She was just really helpful in [ways] that wasn't just solely connected to my special project. Obviously, when we talked, she would give me great feedback on certain things I did well [and] certain things I need to improve on. So, it was just nice having somebody there who is already in the game [so] they can help you figure things out. I think that was one of the greatest components of the program having a mentor who was generally willing to guide you and help you in any way they could.

Can you talk to me a little bit about the two classes the fellows take and how they helped you throughout the semester? 

So when it comes to the classes - [they were] "Becoming a Problem Solver" and "Social Innovator's Toolbox." [For] our Wednesday classes we had a bunch of different topics - a bunch of different people come in and speak to us. We had a class on racism. [We talked about topics like] "Are Black people racist?" A lot of interesting topics in the sense of looking at problems as within a system, and not just seeing it as, "Okay, this is an issue I can go and fix it." You have to understand the systems at play before you can just come in and say, "Okay, I'm ready to solve this issue." The Friday's class really helped with our professional development whether we did stuff about networking or vulnerability. It was deep. Those classes were very, very, deep. They weren't your typical, "Okay, turn to page blah, blah, blah and let's do blah, blah, blah." They were very deep classes that really made you think. Really made you look within your own self and find things about yourself that maybe you didn't think at all were there. We did a lot of journaling, reflecting, talking. Open discussions - people are bouncing off each other. 

I really looked forward to our classes every week because I knew going in I was always going to leave with something enriching. [With the] cohort I was in everybody was so smart; they all had so many good things to say. I remember being in class like, "Oh, yeah! I didn't think about that!"  I've had some of those experiences in college, but I wouldn't have had that type of experience in school. 

Did it feel enriching to be surrounded by like-minded, passionate, people? You're living together in the Allston apartments. You're taking classes together. Were you able to find a sense of community with the other students? 

Oh yeah! Definitely. Coming into the program for me I did a whole bunch of research. I probably watched every YouTube video that [CFSI] had − because I was like, "I want to know! I want to know! This is completely new." I remember being on the website and there was a testimony somebody gave; it was like, "The time you make friends in the program is so quick" - they didn't even believe it. And I'm like, "Yeah, okay. It's not going to be that quick..." 

That weekend [of our intro week] − we had our first weekend where we all just came together and got to know each other. It happened so quick! Everybody became friendly with each other. And I'm just like wow! That's not something I thought really was going to happen. And then coming to the classes − you said we're all like-minded. Even though we're like-minded it never felt like we're all robots; we're liked-minded, but we have our own individual experiences our own individual things we had to bring to the table that added another layer to whatever it is that we were discussing or talking about - that was really enriching. 

Now that you've had a bit of distance from the program what's your biggest take away from your Semester in City experience? 

So I had a lot of main takeaways, but I could say this even though it's small - it overall ties into the whole program in general.

[During] the program we had Matt − they were a guest speaker that worked at Bentley and they came and were talking about identities - what we identify as. It was really nice − when referring to a group of people, when they were speaking, they would use the word "y'all;" that is something the program [instilled] too. I remember when we had our classes to address everybody it would be "y'all" [or something similar]. That's something I've taken with me and that stuck with me cause' I understand not everyone identifies as what they may physically look like. So now, after the program, I make sure to say gender neutral terms like "y'all;" I catch myself saying that all the time. It might seem like a little thing, but it was overall something so big for me and something so profound - what the program did. Understanding everybody comes from different walks and so using those types of different terminology. 

What I got from that, overall is one of the many great things that speaks about the program. I took [that knowledge] with me, and I'm very aware of that now where probably I wasn't so much aware of before the program. Even if I was, I have become even more aware. I just feel like that's very telling of the type of program Semester in the City is.