Lauren Smith is a Junior at the College of Charleston studying Business Administration with a concentration in Entrepreneurship. Smith is from Ellicott City, Maryland and when she took a tour of The College, she truly fell in love with how the campus and city made her feel like she was home. As she walks into her third year in Charleston, it has held up to her standards and then some. In particular, her summer internship greatly contributed to her growth both professionally and personally.
Over the summer, Smith completed a Social Media Internship with Camp Rise Above, a non-profit organization that caters to children of health, mental, and physical disability to allow them just to be kids. Camp Rise Above has overnight camps during the summer at the Camp Cole facility in Eastover, South Carolina where they can act as they wish with children just like them, catered to making them feel that nothing is out of the ordinary and they are safe. Not only was Lauren an active camp counselor throughout the summer, but she was also in charge of scheduling and creating social media content for the camp. Smith was able to collect live content to allow the parents to see how much fun their children were having and the donors and volunteers to see the beauty of what they are contributing to.
She initially became interested from being a former member of the Charleston Miracle Executive Board as the Financial Manager. One of the Miracle Kids she worked with is the daughter of an employee who works for Camp Rise Above. Throughout her time with Charleston Miracle, Lauren developed a love and passion for working with kids, and when the Camp Rise Above internship was posted, Lauren knew she had to apply. Due to this experience, she learned the importance of selflessness in both professional and personal settings. Along with the lessons that each child taught her, she summarized:
“I have a really big passion for helping children with disabilities. Each child, no matter their abilities, see the world so beautifully. It has taught me how to be grateful in every situation and to see kindness in every situation.”
In the future, Smith wants to be with a company that has a social impact and mission statement for the betterment of the community. With her background of social media and marketing, it allows her to be a strong competitor within the job market. Eventually, she would also like to re-open her family’s shoe store.
If Lauren could share any advice with other students, she would say,
“Always ask questions, never be afraid to raise your hand. That is how we learn about the opportunities ahead of us.”
-Kasandra Kloc, Peer Career Advisor