Adria Meadvin: UC’s Spring 2025 Intern
My name is Adria Meadvin, and I have been Union Capital’s Spring 2025 semester intern. To put a face to who has been annoyingly emailing and chasing people down for stories; I am a sophomore Journalism major at the University of New Hampshire who is born and raised in New England. I can safely say my semester here has been such an incredible experience. From meeting members and attending member events, to leading a Core Team meeting, I have made unforgettable connections that will last me a lifetime. I am extremely grateful to Dennis Hicks, who led the interview that you’ll keep reading, and the rest of Union Capital’s Core Team for making my semester a semester to remember.
Q: What were you hoping to gain or learn from this internship when you started?
When I originally joined the CFSI Internship program I was really hoping to build not only my resume but the connections to people who I could use as references later down the line. Like, Dennis and the team are all people I would be proud to have references from. I did get more out of it than just connection though. I got to meet a lot of new people and hear a lot of new perspectives that, coming from a small town, I didn’t really hear before this semester.
Q: What were the main projects or tasks you worked on during your time here?
The main project, my Special Project, was the Union Capital Ripples. I worked on this with Jalina Suggs very collaboratively and made the template which turned out to be something I was very proud of and proud that members got to see it. I also worked really hard on my Member Stories all semester, which were published to the Stories page and gave members a space to talk about their stories and lives, which was really cool. I really enjoyed being able to talk to a lot of UC’s members and learn more about them. It definitely helped me to connect with them.
Q: Which project or accomplishment are you most proud of?
I am the most proud of my member stories. Not a lot of people get the privilege to talk to so many people and be trusted with their life stories. Each member I interviewed always gave me a little advice as well, so all of this new wisdom is coming from being able to learn about so many new peoples perspectives, morals, hardships, and more. Yeah, very proud of those especially.
Q: Did you face any challenges or surprises while working here? How did you handle them?
One of my biggest struggles that I didn’t really expect was reaching out to Partner Organizations and writing stories for them. I am used to talking to individual people but talking to an organization and a team of people is a little more complicated. The whole team has to approve of it, sometimes they have their own editors that check it over, and through doing these I did learn more about setting professional boundaries when it comes to my work and writing. Then with some of the new policies from the president I couldn’t publish some of them for fear of losing funding. I just tried to be as collaborative as possible and learned to let things go, like pick your battles. And knowing that the UC Team was on my side through all of this helped.
Q: What new skills or knowledge did you gain through this internship?
Something I had struggled with before was time management. I am a big procrastinator who would put school assignments off until the very last second. I got good grades, but it always stressed me out. In doing my member stories I learned quickly that I need to be on time with these things. I had to do the initial interview, start writing the story, fact-check with members, send follow-up questions, have my story checked by Dennis but also by the member, format the story into our Stories page, create social media posts and then publish it all in one week. Procrastinating does not get me far when there are that many steps, and the stories are important. I also did a lot all semester that didn’t necessarily have exact due dates, but if I just did the task as I received it, my life was a lot less stressful.
Q: What was it like working with the Union Capital team?
The whole team was so supportive from day one. I really liked that I wasn’t only working under my mentor (Dennis) and that I was just part of the team. I did projects with everybody. Like the UC Ripples with Jalina or partner organization things with Shavonne. I helped Aura find ways to broadcast and create her Book club. The whole semester was not only a great experience for my future career, but a lot of fun. The UC Team is amazing.
Q: How would you describe the culture at Union Capital to someone who’s never worked here?
Very supportive and accepting, I never felt ashamed to ask questions or for help with anything. The UC Team has a lot of fun, too. When it’s time to work, we work hard, but there’s always laughter and smiling even in the hard times.
Q: What advice would you give to a future intern at Union Capital?
Your mentor is really there for you. Don’t be afraid to ask questions because there is somebody on the team who will make sure your questions are answered. Also don’t be afraid to be yourself, incorporate your own style into things, it's all very collaborative. And allow yourself to have fun and enjoy your experience because it truly is only a semester that goes by so fast.
