Megan Sand

1234 Street, Columbus, Ohio 43210

Phone: (444) 444-4444 E-Mail: lastnamenumber@website.com

My name is Megan Sand and this coming Autumn I will be a senior attending The Ohio State
University. I will be graduating with a Bachelors of Arts having developed by own major: an
interdisciplinary, alternative approach to international development with a focus on human rights
and womens issues. I also will be graduating with a minor in Nonprofit Management from the
John Glenn Collage of Public Affairs.
This past semester as a part of English 4567S: Rhetoric and Community Service, I had the
opportunity to work with a small, Columbus grassroots nonprofit: Friends of the Lower
Olentangy River. Working with FLOW, I have gained experience in social media analytics,
researching social media action plans, and digital storytelling. I produced these as well as other
deliverable on rolling deadlines for both FLOW and my class, which met twice weekly.
My experience with FLOW as well as in English 4567S challenged me to step out of my
research, formal, technical writing bubble often stressed in other classes. I was challenged to
create stories using visual media and through digital platforms such as wordpress. While it was
less challenging for me to dust off the creative visual storytelling skills I had developed while
working with cinematography at Ithaca College, expanding this ability to other forms of digital
media such as Facebook posts and bi-weekly blog posts proved more challenging. Instead of
writing to attract academics and impress professors, I had to refer back to my own experience on
social media sites and ask, Would this attract me if it popped up on my Facebook? Reminding
myself personality, passion, and humor are often what attracts readers and keeps them connected.
Working with social media challenged me to realize, unlike websites, social media is a dialectic
platform where both consumer and distributer interact. Utilizing my own experience as a
consumer combined with research and analytics highlighted the importance of integrating social
media into nonprofits to increase audience and impact. That being said, my experience exposed
me to the intricacy of working within the culture of a particular nonprofit. For example, FLOW
is a small, community based nonprofit. While working on anything from a social media actions
plan to event videos, I had to take into account FLOWs diverse and interconnected community,
which included not only people living in the watershed area, but FLOWs network of partnered
nonprofit and for-profit businesses as well. Finally, working with FLOW exposed me to an
environment with more horizontal than vertical organization. I learned to rely more on my own
initiative and appreciate the flexibility and freedom that comes with such an environment.
My experience with FLOW has not only expanded on skills I had already begun to develop, but
also exposed me to a new environment where I was challenged to think beyond academics.
Instead I learned to combine my academic writing and research abilities with my personal social
media experiences. I learned how to capitalize on various social media sites rhetorical
affordance and harbor that affordance to connect and attract a diverse demographic of people.
Skills that are transferable beyond small nonprofits to large nonprofit, for-profit, and even public
organizations.