For millions of college students, internships can be an essential stepping stone to a full-time job, a vital source of income, or even a graduation requirement. But like so many of the opportunities and activities that were upended by COVID-19, many internship offers for the summer of 2020 at the height of the pandemic were rescinded, throwing student plans for their summer into complete disarray.

 

A poll conducted by OneClass, a note-sharing and study-guide platform, used Facebook to gain insight into the number of college sophomores who believed losing out on their summer internship negatively affected their expected graduation date or confidence in their ability to successfully pursue their career of interest.

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The poll found that 71% of respondents claimed that “opportunities in their desired field of study had been diminished,” 4% of respondents “had to change majors, drop out of school, or [postpone their graduation date],” and only 25% of respondents were unaffected. To put these numbers into perspective, “about three out of four students” believed losing their internship significantly disrupted their career trajectory. Such findings only seem to corroborate the general public consensus that restrictions imposed by the pandemic have made the life of a stressed-out college student that much more stressful.

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At the time, Tonisha De Witt, an incoming senior at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) who had just recently accepted the role of Vice President of Projects for the UCSB’s American Marketing Association (AMA), was tirelessly searching for marketing-related opportunities to offer AMA members in the upcoming school year. There was additional pressure for her to find the perfect marketing project due to the increase in demand for hands-on marketing experience after so many internships were rescinded.

 

Fortunately, Amy Zhou, a friend and board member of AMA, referred Tonisha to Duet and their new student ambassadorship program. After connecting with Charles Liu, the Business Development Lead at Duet, Tonisha was able to learn more about Duet’s mission, values, and expectations for a potential collaboration with AMA.

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Tonisha recalls that her initial impression of the social justice non-profit was that “they were a great organization and a great fit marketing-wise to work with,” especially for members who were interested in working with non-profits and gaining experience in social media and email marketing. She also felt a strong connection to Duet’s “mission and business model,” claiming that Duet is “revolutionary in how multifaceted they provide solutions, and are the newest example of how crisis response teams and international non-profits should operate today.”

 

After working with Charles and Michael Cesar, the CEO & Co-founder of Duet, to finalize expectations and a general timeline for the Duet ambassadorship program at UCSB’s AMA, Tonisha was able to hit the ground running with the new year-long project.

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In support of Duet’s mission to improve the lives of refugee families in Lesvos, Greece through transparent and personalized donations, the student ambassadors at UCSB were “tasked with coming up with marketing strategies and fundraiser events from scratch, and implementing the process to get tangible results.”

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One notable project the ambassador team worked on was a virtual holiday fundraiser inspired by Secret Santa during Fall of 2020. Members created and posted an “Instagram bingo” to “reach out to friends and family” for donations to Duet’s ongoing holiday drive in which every donation was doubled for twice the life-changing impact on a refugee family in need. A virtual care package was also designed, promoted, and sent to all donors who contributed any amount to the fundraiser in hopes of increasing support for a life-changing cause during the holiday season of giving. The collective efforts of the student ambassadors were impressive to say the least. “We were able to raise $378 and have our funds matched. It was great to see our impact doubled to $738,” Tonisha says.

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Despite having a successful virtual fundraiser and marketing campaign, the ambassadorship program was not without its fair share of setbacks. As Tonisha recalls, the ambassador team had “hoped to throw a festival-style concert - a virtual Deltopia - on a spatial chatting platform, which unfortunately fell through.”

 

These challenges were certainly not limited to virtual events that ultimately flopped. During her time as VP of Projects, Tonisha struggled with “making sure everyone was involved, equally contributing to the process of event planning and marketing, and feeling valued for their ideas and contributions,” an understandable challenge to leading team-based projects virtually.

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To matters even more challenging, the virtual nature of the year-long project presented problems with her living arrangements. “For over a year up until recently, I was living in a one bedroom apartment with my parents and older brother. A great pair of headphones is how I got through it, and becoming a workaholic was how I coped,” Tonisha explains.

 

But in spite of all these challenges, Tonisha persevered. “I tried to lead numerous projects, and let that be not only my escape to do something I love, but also a way for me to provide a positive virtual learning space for others.”