Internship goes virtual

The global pandemic threw Angel Stow a curve ball when it came time to complete an internship for her bachelor’s degree in sociology at the University of Iowa. The planned internship Stow is completing with Jesse Bolinger of Bolinger Solutions in Creston became a virtual.

Stow, a 2018 Creston Community High School graduate and current junior at U of I, had planned to come back to Creston for the summer, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, the job she had lined up disappeared. She decided to stay in Iowa City where she works at Starbucks.

A summer of in-person interviews and compiling data with Bolinger turned into an online survey and working with the data through Google Drive, email, Zoom meetings and phone calls.

Stow said the change impacted their area of research. The plan was to focus on generational differences in informal volunteering. The pandemic has led to an interest in virtual volunteerism as well.

Informal volunteerism is providing services for family and friends without the direction of an organization. Checking on a neighbor, getting them groceries or mowing their yard are examples of activities that would be considered informal. Formal volunteering generally works through an agency such as the American Red Cross, an animal rescue center or the hospital.

“I think the biggest example that we’re seeing right now is masks; mask making, donating them to friends, family and church organizations,” Stow said.

Stow has found that volunteers are turning to virtual platforms to find opportunities, but she hopes that the continued research she will be doing this summer will find ways that people are able to volunteer online.

“You can find formal opportunities on websites that organizations have set up,” she said. “Now with this pandemic, I’m hoping to see, if it hasn’t already happened, virtual ways of formal volunteering, not just finding them.... The same goes for informal. It helps you find opportunities.”

Working with Bolinger has been helpful to Stow. She said he has challenged her and helped her grow.

“When you’re in college, there is a lot of being told what to do ... and they just give you a grade and then it’s over,” she said. “Working with Jesse, he’s really challenged me to come up with my own ideas, find my own information ... think my own thoughts.”

Bolinger said although he would have liked to work with Stow in person, the virtual internship has worked out well. He praised Stow’s ability to dive into the research and her willingness to learn.

“She asks tons of great questions and is really quick to understand where there are things we can maybe do different,” Bolinger said. “I never thought I would host an intern... It just became a great thing for both of us.”

Through their work in creating and administering the survey, Bolinger and Stow have touched on some areas that will be important to Stow in future research, such as confidentiality and informed consent.

Stow’s future plans of completing a master’s and doctorate will involve writing a thesis and a dissertation. This work with Bolinger, which actually stems from the research he did for his own dissertation, has given her a view into the work that will be required.

“I am going to school to be a professor,” Stow said. “I’m going to have to do research ... just like the research that we’re doing. I thought it would ... help me when I am in the position that he was in.”

Stow will be able to apply this summer’s work to an internship class she is taking next semester, preparing a virtual presentation for the class. In addition, if her professor is sufficiently impressed with the work, Stow may be able to present it at a sociology conference in 2021.

Those who wish to participate in the survey may visit https://forms.gle/3R89QDgENViLRniD8.