Reflections on “Compass the City” 2024 from our interns
Lusho Hambiliki, Izzy Marvin, Cindy Obi-Njoku
2024 Summer interns for “Compass the City” outreach project, Christian Science Literature Joint Distribution Committee
Reflecting back on their summer internship in Seattle, our interns had some reflections to share on their summer in Seattle working on the “Compass the City” outreach project. Find out what what most meaningful to them.
From Lusho Hambiliki
This internship was an incredible journey, full of discovery and growth. Exploring different parts of Seattle and Washington allowed me to see and experience new places which was a joy. I gained numerous skills that I know will be valuable as I prepare for a career after college.
One of the most rewarding aspects of this experience was visiting the Christian Science churches and meeting the members. It was inspiring to see their commitment and passion, and it felt fulfilling to connect with people who were genuinely interested in our work and The Christian Science Monitor Weekly. Seeing and hearing about the impact of the Monitor on people's lives was a powerful reminder of its potential to help many.
Working with Cindy was another highlight of my internship. Our teamwork was fantastic, and together we placed over 100 gift subscriptions and distributed thousands of copies of the Monitor. This achievement felt especially rewarding, knowing that we were spreading knowledge and inspiration.
I am incredibly grateful to God for leading me to this internship. It provided not only college credit but also the chance to reconnect with friends and family. The connections I've made and the experiences I've had are invaluable. I would wholeheartedly encourage others to continue this project even outside of the internship because there are so many people out there waiting to discover The Christian Science Monitor and the positive change it can bring.
From Izzy Marvin
This summer in Seattle has been spectacular. As my time here has progressed, my responsibilities have increased.
Before summer even started, I came up with the idea to advertise the Compass the City Outreach Project at Principia College, where I was attending school, since I completed this outreach project as an internship last summer. I had to secure a location and table to advertise. As soon as I had this idea I spoke with Cindy Safronoff and headed straight to the offices at Principia. I was able to be scheduled right away for two weeks, starting right away! Cindy sent me copies of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly to display at my table as well as information brochures that I created at the end of last summer detailing the aspects, responsibilities, and perks of participating in the Compass the City Project and internship. I set up a table in the concourse at Principia College which is the main area for students to get food from the dining hall, go into the college store, check their mailboxes, as well as go to the pub which is a restaurant run by students. This area is a large area that continuously has clubs and groups advertising to the student body. I thought this location would be perfect to advertise and recruit for this project because the students interested would be able to speak directly to someone, me, who had completed this internship and spent two summers conducting this work. I found that this was very successful because students had a lot of specific questions about how the internship was run and I was able to give detailed answers and explain how great this opportunity is. After my two weeks of advertising at a table in the concourse and recommending individuals, a team was hired!
I had planned to come to Seattle for the first two weeks of the project to create a schedule for the summer and train the new team. I started off creating a training program for the team as well as a summer schedule that was subject to changes as the summer progressed. I had a wonderful time putting together a training plan and schedule and training the team, this was the first time I had gotten experience like this.
As my two weeks started to approach an end, I was not ready to leave Seattle at all, but I had an idea. I had a meeting with Cindy Safronoff where I shared a new idea I had. The idea I had was to complete outreach work but in a different way. Rather than completing outreach work attending various districts and visiting businesses, I thought it was a great idea to travel to and attend farmers markets in various districts within the Seattle area. At these markets I planned to have a collapsible table and chair to sit in with a display of six to eight Monitor editions. In previous summers, I attended the University District market a few times which I remember fondly and contributed to this new idea.
Cindy was interested in my new project but had to clear this plan with the board committee. Soon after, this idea was cleared, and it was time for me to start planning more in depth. I started by researching all the farmers markets in the Seattle area as well as the dates and times. After I gathered this information, I formed a schedule. Creating this schedule and project seemed simple at first but proved to be more complicated than I had thought.
As I started to visit these various farmers market locations, I quickly realized that not all markets are as welcoming as the University District farmers market was. Before I attended the markets, I made calls to the management to see if I was able to set up a station and I was always told yes, however this “yes” did not stay. I was asked to leave several markets. By the end I was able to determine the best farmers markets to attend and these locations became a part of my permanent schedule. The permanent schedule included my days off being Sunday and Monday because there are no markets those days, Renton Tuesday, Wallingford Wednesday, Queen Anne Thursday, office work Friday, and the University District Saturday. I was happy with this final collection of markets because they were all fruitful locations.
Farmers Market outreach work was much more difficult than I had expected. Rather than speaking to businesses and offering them free sample copies and gift subscriptions, I was speaking to individuals who would be taking a sample copy or gift subscription for their personal use. This was deemed to be difficult because there were multiple connotations of The Monitor. There were many people who were familiar with this news publication and many people who had a negative view of it due to it being titled, “The Christian Science Monitor Weekly”. Through the summer I was able to give out 224 sample copies and 7 gift subscriptions. Although this number is not as high as I expected it to be, this summer was the beginning stages of this project to find what areas work. I feel confident in the fact that if this project is completed again in future summers, there will be larger numbers of sample copies given out because the perfect locations have already been discovered. Overall, I am happy with how this summer has gone. I have loved creating a new project and formulating all the details for my vision to come to light. This was a really great experience, and I hope that this project was able to leave a positive effect on the community members in the Seattle area.