Ripple Effect 22’s First Intern

By Virginia Van Zandt

I walk into the office and Stefan and Ceci are already hard at work, typing away on their Macs, contacting potential partners, or filling out paperwork. They are focused on planning the upcoming Block Party event for Ripple Effect 22, the non-profit organization I’ve been interning at for about a month now.

My name is Virginia Van Zandt, and I’m 17 years old. The first half of my summer consisted of using “I just graduated from Lowell High School, the hardest high school in San Francisco” as an excuse to relax and rejuvenate. Predictably, my parents soon weren’t having it and urged me to go out and get some work experience before heading off to UC Riverside this fall. That’s when I found Ripple Effect 22.

One cold August day, after being interviewed by Stefan and Ceci at the small office north of the Panhandle, I was recruited as a social media coordinator and my hours were set. I came in the next day, eager to start my first day of work ever. Every day since then has been a unique learning experience, with no one day the same as any other. This internship has turned out to be so much more than tweeting, liking, and posting. From driving around downtown San Francisco filming a video project to meeting with an interior designer to re-decorate our mentoring space, I have been a part of more than I anticipated.

My experience at Ripple Effect 22 has been an extremely positive, influential, and overall very fun experience. I have learned about their values and seen their progress. I am proud to be associated with Ripple Effect 22.