Rebecca Shames is VAL’s inaugural Development & Communications Intern. She is a senior at the University of Vermont, double majoring in French and Sociology with a minor in History.
Rebecca grew up in Massachusetts. Her affinity for French language and culture started with her first French class in sixth grade at Blake Middle School in Medfield. She decided then that she would find a way to live abroad, eventually. Rebecca spent part of her junior year at UVM studying at Université de Caen in Normandy, along France’s Atlantic Coast. She hopes to teach English in France when she graduates, to further absorb French language and culture while plotting her next educational and/or career steps.
Rebecca’s second major in Sociology grew out of an elective.
“I realized my Intro to Sociology class was everything I liked about AP Psychology in high school and nothing I disliked about it,” Rebecca said with a laugh. As for the History minor, Rebecca said, “I’m just a History Geek. My dad really likes history. I particularly like Ancient History—the older things are the better.”
Rebecca is interning at VAL ten hours per week during the spring semester. She has hit the ground running, reading articles relevant to best practices in development and communications while delivering on a growing list of tasks. She has interviewed staff and students, generating well-crafted blog postings. She wrote and had her first press release published in a Windham County newspaper. She is designing social media posts to support raising awareness of VAL’s work and helping with some administrative tasks.
“Rebecca is bright, capable and skilled at juggling her schoolwork, job and internship responsibilities,” said Katherine Stamper, VAL’s Development & Communications Director. “She’s doing some fine work for our agency while building a professional portfolio. We are fortunate to host an intern of Rebecca’s caliber.”