From her very first day, University of WA intern Jess Donaldson “fit in like she had always been part of the Asthma WA team” according to Marketing and Communications Manager Freya Barr.
“No challenge was too big or too dull – Jess took on every task with enthusiasm and initiative,” intern supervisor Ms Barr said.
During her 100-hour McCusker Centre for Citizenship community service internship, The Vines resident Ms Donaldson restructured and developed new content for Asthma WA’s website, social media and other communications.
The Master of Translation student, 22, said her copywriting and research project was at first “quite daunting”.
“At times, I was researching and re-writing medical information,” she explained.
“While this was always checked by the qualified respiratory health educators, it is a huge responsibility to write such critical information.
“That being said, the skills I've taken from the Master of Translation were really useful here, as it's all about transferring meaning as accurately as possible.”
Ms Barr said Ms Donaldson was a “fast operator” who dug deep and developed a series of great articles to use across a range of mediums.
“Jess’ experience and fascination with linguistics meant she was always eager to explore new ways of writing and adapt her style,” she said.
“The research Jess did helped to create a range of articles but also a library of statistics and data that we will refer to and use in our communications for at least the next year.
“Validating data is so important to the integrity of our work and reporting to funders and donors. Jess also helped to develop our language guidelines, which is not a task suited for everyone. Her contributions were valuable and being implemented across the organisation.”
Ms Donaldson said it was rewarding to help such a small not-for-profit organisation that had such a big impact on the everyday lives of people with asthma.
“The team there work tirelessly to help others, so I am glad I could take a little bit of their workload,” she said.
“I have a huge amount of respect for those who work for not-for-profits, and could see myself aiming for a career where my work benefits a community.”