Alumni Diaries # 3: Zoe Sheppard
Written by Zoe Sheppard
Each semester at College for Social Innovation we receive the invaluable assistance of multiple Semester in the City program alumni who we call Ambassadors. In addition to their coursework these amazing individuals help us with recruitment efforts at their educational institutions, sharing their SITC experiences with classmates, and helping us find the next generation of problem-solvers for future semesters.
We recently reached out to our Spring 2021 Ambassadors asking them to help share their Semester in the City stories; our following blog post was written by Zoe Sheppard who was a part of our Fall 2020 Cohort and is a student at the University of Vermont; check our her Semester in the City experience below!
I first thought about doing Semester in the City my sophomore year of college. I was kind of scared to leave Vermont and waffled back and forth until I decided to apply for the fall of my senior year. I was a part of the Fall 2020 Cohort and my internship was at Cradles to Crayons, a non-profit that provides kids with everyday essentials, such as coats, backpacks, diapers etc. I really liked my internship, especially my special project which was organizing their bulk coat event. This meant I was in charge of getting the coat orders ready and making sure the distribution went smoothly. My internship was also a mix of office work as well as warehouse work, so I got to experience both sides of the non-profit field. [This] turned out to be a really valuable experience.
“I was always so afraid to leave Vermont, but this experience made me realize that I can do it and any place can feel like home if you give it a chance.
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In addition to the actual internship, I also loved being in Boston. What was once a scary mess of random streets turned into a place that felt like home. Although a small aspect, having a routine and being so independent in a new city was so special to me; I really started to feel like an adult, not just some college student who didn’t know what they were doing. On the weekends my roommate and I would go into the downtown part of Boston and try new restaurants and just explore all of the shops and parks. On my own I went for a lot of walks all around the city. I went to the Esplanade right on the Charles River and then would walk over to the public garden and read my book. I would also go on a walk from the Allston apartments all the way to Downtown which was really nice because I got to see parts of BU and other neighborhoods I would have missed if I took the train. With that being said, my favorite spot was definitely Brookline, I would go every weekend and get a coffee and just take it all in.
Overall, I’m so glad that I was able to do Semester in the City. It was a nice change of pace from regular classes, and I honestly feel like I learned even more both from my internship as well just living in Boston for the semester. I was always so afraid to leave Vermont, but this experience made me realize that I can do it and any place can feel like home if you give it a chance.