Julia White was recently recognised among 21 nominees in the McCusker Centre for Citizenship’s Outstanding Intern Award, after an impactful internship with Kulungah Myah Community Centre (the Centre).
Julia, who is currently studying psychology at UWA, undertook a number of tasks and projects during her 100-hour internship, including writing a successful application for a Be Connected Digital Literacy Grant.
“I was excited to find out that my actions and our collaborative efforts had paid off and would soon make a positive impact,” Julia said.
“The success of the grant application means that members of the local community, including senior citizens, will benefit from improved digital literacy, making many aspects of their life easier including banking, shopping, and booking transport.
“It will also help those most vulnerable to isolation remain connected to their loved ones and the local community and alleviate feelings of loneliness.
“I also created a grant writing guide and resource pack for organisation staff and future interns, which I hope will help Kulungah Myah Community Centre develop and fund more programs to connect and empower the local community,” she said.
Renee Case, Vice Chair of Kulungah Myah Community Centre, nominated Julia for the Outstanding Intern Award after being impressed by her achievement, professionalism, and attitude.
“Julia’s grant writing work has directly supported our goal of program diversification and our wish to extend digital literacy provision to members of the community who are not digitally proficient due to cost, access or ability challenges. Her work also informed a subsequent digital literacy grant targeted at migrant and refugee women,” Ms Case said.
“Julia demonstrated her willingness to go above and beyond when she offered to create a resource that could be used by future interns when undertaking grant writing; this was not within the original scope of work for her internship role and was wholeheartedly her own initiative and inspiration.”
Julia said that the internship experience had allowed her to broaden her views through interactions with the Centre’s staff and clients.
“Being able to interact with so many people from so many walks of life and collaborate with them was an amazing opportunity that let me become more involved with my local community and develop my soft skills,” she said.
“I have always been passionate about making a positive change in the world and giving back to the community, and the internship gave me opportunity to interact with and empower members of the community, something that I wouldn’t otherwise have as part of my university experience.”