Name: Abbygail Brewster

Year: 2018

Major: Sociology

What’s happening? We’d love to hear how your internship is going:

My internship is going great! I am interning at Consumer Credit Counseling Services. Their main role is to provide financial education and counseling to people, so they are able to make sound financial decisions. With my internship, I am doing a lot of outreach within the community. One of my primary roles is building a social media presence. Another role that I enjoy is going out to the Summer Activity Camps throughout Wichita, and helping lead their Summer Savings Program which is hosted by Consumer Credit Counseling Services and a local credit union. I have also had the opportunity to research about the options for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) homebuyers, and first time homebuyer grants in Kansas. One of my favorite task was researching the cost of attending college or a technical school in Kansas versus predicted salaries of college graduates. The data was then presented to teachers across Kansas to help them understand about how they can better advise students for college, but to also be conscious of student debt. This is because the average student graduates with $33,000 of debt and the total student loan debt as of March 2016 was 1.3 trillion dollars. Yikes!

How I heard about my internship:

I knew that I wanted to stay in the Wichita area for the summer, so that was my starting point. Then I found a local organization that matched non profit organizations with grants, people, and other key components for running a non profit organization. I was able to forward my resume to organizations that they had worked with. Then Consumer Credit Counseling Services was one of the organizations I heard back from and that is where I thought the best fit would be.

Why I applied for my internship:

I knew that I wanted an internship that gave me some level of experience dealing with finances to get exposure and determine if this is where my interest truly is. I think the most typical place to work in finance is at a bank and I wanted an internship that wasn’t typical. My internship allows me to be exposed to finances, but from a different perspective. Our goal here is to help people make firm decisions about their finances by educating and counseling them, not to sell a product. I think this is a unique experience because I am able to learn and understand about a wide array of finance related topics like bankruptcy, retirement savings, buying a house, and debt management. My co-workers are certified to help people understand their options and what they can do, and the advice they give is from a true and honest place. So in simple terms, I get to work with finances and get to help people at the same time.