I still clearly remember the excitement I felt when I saw the communications intern position at SMAHRT on my school’s job listings a year ago in the spring.
At the time, I had been working as a research assistant for Computational Approaches and Message Effects Research (CAMER) and had been content analyzing tweets about the COVID-19 vaccine for nearly six months. During my exposure to this research content, I developed a great interest in health and science communication on social media platforms. I found myself building on my role as a researcher who objectively analyzes health communication content, and actively engaging in my interest to disseminate health and research information.
The communications intern role at SMAHRT provided me with just that opportunity. In the summer of 2021, I joined the team, beginning an important chapter in my journey of growth at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
I first became interested in health communication because I enjoy the process of constantly learning as I work. It is a prerequisite that I have a good understanding of the team’s research when I want to communicate it to an audience. More importantly, the SMAHRT’s mission statement “to advance society’s understanding of the relationship between media and adolescent health” deeply resonated with me. Being a communications intern is like being a bridge between scientists’ research findings and the community, and it has greatly enhanced my ability to understand the research and translate it into more straightforward terms for the general public.
The SMAHRT also provides communication interns with hands-on learning opportunities to engage in research. Each intern has the opportunity to propose an individual research project related to social media and adolescent health and is mentored by team members along the way. At this year’s Undergraduate Research Symposium, I presented my project “Content and linguistic analysis of YouTube comments on adolescent diabetes diagnosis videos”, which was an extremely valuable learning experience for me.
Working at SMAHRT has also helped me to develop the courage to face challenges and to be open to learning new skills. Over the past year, I have been exposed to many knowledge and skill requirements that I have never encountered before. For example, I grew from no knowledge of utilizing search engine optimization (SEO) to a communicator who can be responsible for improving the SEO performance of our website and explaining the logic behind it to the team. This exposure to SEO also made me decide to double major in Information Science and explore a more fulfilling academic journey.
Similarly, when I was assigned to a blog on the history of a previous research project, I took the initiative to choose the topic of cannabis advertising and social media, which I had not been exposed to before, and summarized the team’s related research projects from the perspective of different research methodologies. These challenges made me realize that in my future study and work, the knowledge and skills I need to learn are endless, but keeping an open mind to challenges and new things is perhaps the most important ability.
Last but not least, I would like to thank SMAHRT for the mentorship mechanism they have set up and all support I received from my mentor, Maggie, throughout the process. When I was interviewing for this internship about a year and a half ago and waiting for the final result, I was very nervous because I was not sure that my past experience would make me competitive enough to get the position. I have always been grateful to SMAHRT for seeing my potential to grow and giving me this opportunity to learn. During this internship, not only did I learn a lot of useful communication and research skills from Maggie, but I also received valuable advice from her on my overall study and career planning.
All constructive feedback I have received from my work with SMAHRT has allowed me to gain a clearer understanding of myself and to feel more confident to explore various possibilities in my future academic or professional journeys. With gratitude and enthusiasm, I look forward to the exciting adventures that await, armed with the experiences and growth that SMAHRT has gifted me.
Written by Meisi Li