The summer internship program at Reading Plus began in 2016. Since then, our company has welcomed young professionals from all over the country to work with us for ten weeks during the summer months. This summer, we have six interns working across several departments.
The Reading Plus internship program provides a hands-on experience that helps individuals develop the skills they need to be successful in the working world. Our interns handle a variety of tasks within the company, from scheduling social media posts to researching state educational funding opportunities.
Keep reading to meet our summer interns!
What does a typical day in your role look like?
I work with the marketing team to help create comprehensive events that Reading Plus attends! I also research events and navigate marketing opportunities for the company.
What is your favorite part about working for Reading Plus?
The people! Everyone is so nice and always willing to sit down and help me learn. The team truly values my opinion and the work I do, which is being used in everyday operations!
What is one thing you have learned during your internship that you think will help you throughout life?
A little support and help goes a long way. The people who have shown me the ropes and taught me new things during this internship mean a lot to me. I hope one day I will be able to pay that forward.
What’s next? Where are you headed after Reading Plus?
I am attending Johns Hopkins University in the fall to receive my Masters in Business Analytics and Risk Management.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
My superpower would be the ability to stop time so I have the time to do everything I want!
What is your favorite quote and why?
My favorite quote is: “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see” by Mark Twain. I love this quote because it shows how kindness transcends beyond language.
What does a typical day in your role look like?
I spend a lot of time monitoring new code updates and testing Reading Plus applications before new releases! Most days are filled with running test cases, documenting any concerns I have in regards to planned releases, and attending meetings and calls to go over future plans within the company.
What is your favorite part about working for Reading Plus?
I love the overall atmosphere. This is actually my main reason for returning again this year to intern for a second time! If you ever run into any problems or have questions, everyone is so open to jumping into a short zoom call and walking you through a problem/concern!
What is one thing you have learned during your internship that you think will help you throughout life?
The importance of having an eye for detail. It is easy to look at a website or webpage and confirm that it is working as intended, but when it comes to QA work you need to ask yourself, “How can this be improved? Does the current design cater to the common user? etc.” These kinds of questions are quite crucial to the work I have been doing so far this summer.
What’s next? Where are you headed after Reading Plus?
Still a bit up in the air, but I plan to take my experience at Reading Plus and try to combine it with my love for the Chinese language/culture.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
My superpower would probably the ability to teleport so I don’t have to drive or fly anywhere.
What is your favorite book and why?
I think my favorite book has got to be House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. This book is filled with small puzzles and little hidden codes scattered throughout. It is a book that often has the reader hopping around from page to page, forcing you to really feel as confused and lost as the main characters. I have always enjoyed psychological horror and thrillers, and this book really takes that idea and builds upon it in new and exciting ways!
What does a typical day in your role look like?
I create assets for digital and print. I can usually be found making edits and receiving feedback/implementing changes to design projects. There is a wide range of projects, so each day is never quite the same.
What is your favorite part about working for Reading Plus?
Everyone is so nice and helpful even when working with tight deadlines. I also love the wide range of projects that get thrown my way. Keeps me on my toes!
What is one thing you have learned during your internship that you think will help you throughout life?
My supervisor was great at pointing out small details and shortcuts when designing throughout Adobe software. This will stick with me for the long run. For future jobs I will probably be biased for Reading Plus since I’m not so sure I will ever enjoy another job as much or have the pleasure of working with such helpful and friendly people. Really brightens the work week!
What’s next? Where are you headed after Reading Plus?
I love traveling so naturally I acquired a six-month internship in Amsterdam beginning in September, working with Hello Fresh. After that I am supposed to start a master’s in motion media at Savannah College of Art and Design. Or find a full-time placement – this is still a ongoing debate.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
I would love to be able to be anywhere in the world within one second.
What is your favorite book and why?
My favorite childhood book was Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. It is amazing. So well written + the idea of magic being alive even if only between the pages of a book is exciting.
What does a typical day in your role look like?
I will typically do research into the various modes of funding available in each state for the Strategic Sales Development team. This can include searching for grants made available by state governments, looking into the COVID relief money that has been granted to schools, or analyzing newly signed state budgets.
What is your favorite part about working for Reading Plus?
I really enjoy the positive and friendly attitude that everyone at the company has. Since the beginning of the summer I have truly felt like a part of the team. Every employee is always happy to help me out or listen to my ideas.
What is one thing you have learned during your internship that you think will help you throughout life?
Working at Reading Plus has taught me to trust my own skills and abilities and be confident in the work that I do. It is a place where work that is done well is rewarded with increased responsibility and trust, a dynamic I hope will hold true wherever my life may take me.
What’s next? Where are you headed after Reading Plus?
This fall I will begin my senior year in the Honors College at Arizona State studying political science. After I graduate I hope to go to law school.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
If I could have any superpower I would want to fly so that I could travel to any place in the world whenever I wanted.
What is your favorite book and why?
My favorite book is Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. I just read it this past school year and the various stories told in the book are so detailed and compelling. It amazes me that they were written by one person.
What does a typical day in your role look like?
My role consists of reading through stories to check for any grammatical errors, data-tagging for social-emotional learning content, and occasionally proofreading any additional worksheets that are provided.
What is your favorite part about working for Reading Plus?
My favorite part about working for Reading Plus are the people. The editorial team may be small, but I absolutely love the conversations with my teammates and how they’re genuinely interested to know more about my life outside of work.
What is one thing you have learned during your internship that you think will help you throughout life?
Aside from possibly being able to answer any kind of jeopardy question, this internship really taught me about what a strong, healthy work environment looks like and how people work together to get the job done effectively, efficiently, and successfully.
What’s next? Where are you headed after Reading Plus?
I actually recently accepted a position at Saint Michael’s college where I’ll be in charge of coordinating student tutors as well as engaging in academic advising! I’m incredibly excited for the opportunity.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
I would definitely want to fly—it’s been something I’ve wanted to do since I was young, flying up there with the birds, seeing nature from above.
What is your favorite book and why?
My favorite book would be Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. In addition to her eloquent writing, I love reading about love in an era where it’s not technologically advanced, but rather old fashioned and modest (the 2005 movie version with Keira Knightley made me love the book even more).
What does a typical day in your role look like?
My role has consisted of developing an internal tool for Reading Plus. I work in a Scrum environment with Quality Assurance. I’m overseen by product management and the engineering team.
What is your favorite part about working for Reading Plus?
Everybody at Reading Plus is incredibly kind, and that stuck out to me within the first week that I started working here!
What is one thing you have learned during your internship that you think will help you throughout life?
I’ve learned about how to better make connections in a remote environment, and I believe that this will be an increasingly valuable skill as remote work becomes more ubiquitous.
What’s next? Where are you headed after Reading Plus?
I’m a computer science major at UMass Amherst. I plan to graduate around the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023. After that, I want to find a reasonably affordable city (Chicago??) to live and work.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
I would choose time travel because I want to see how long humans will last on Earth!
What is your favorite quote and why?
My favorite quote is “No man is your enemy, no man is your friend, every man is your teacher” by Florence Scovel Shinn. I truly believe that every relationship is invaluable for exactly the reason Shinn outlines in this quote.
