To give a little bit of background, I’ve been working in customer service as a carhop and as a barista for about a year now. I’ve liked working in those positions, but I say with complete honesty that I love working with the Alliance.

I can’t think of a single time I wasn’t excited to sign in and work on things I’m passionate about. I’ve met some of the kindest and most encouraging people in my short time here. The support given by my mentors has uplifted me to create amazing things that were just ideas I never thought would be reality.

One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned in my time here has been the importance of your input. Even before this internship, I spoke my mind. I believe that if you have an opinion, you should express it to the world. However, working here has made me see in real time that your ideas have true impacts if you get them out there. No one has ever made any change by staying quiet, and I am among one of millions of examples. Your voice is the most powerful tool you have, and your ideas have real effects.  I am not an insurance professional. I did not (yet!) finish my CISR program. I am simply a teenager who refuses to stay quiet. This internship has been an amazing opportunity that I earned through my ideas, my drive, and my honesty, and I hope more than anything that I’m able to inspire at least one person to start speaking up.

I came into this internship with ideas, and I have picked up on many ideas, especially from watching and reviewing all the VCC sessions. I think the most reiterated idea is building relationships. I prefer this term over “networking.” One thing that draws me to this industry and something I’ve really enjoyed while working with the Alliance is all the people I’ve met. The term “networking” doesn’t quite make it sound like real relationships. I’ve had the opportunity to get to know so many kind and unique people in just the span of a couple of months and I’m lucky to have made their acquaintance. It makes me sad knowing that as my internship wraps up, I will no longer be working daily with the amazing souls that make this place a community.

I’ve absolutely loved working somewhere that truly does care about the impact they have and wants to make changes to help the next generation. One recent example – a group of Austin-based team members took time out of their workday to volunteer at the Central Texas Food Bank in Austin. Even more so, the Alliance is actively engaging with high school students and young adults to show how they may have a future career in insurance. In February of this year, the Academy invited students from my school who were participating in the CISR HS program, including myself, to attend their Board meeting. They wanted the student perspective on how effective the program was, what could be better, and how they can appeal to people our age. The projects I worked on during my internship arose from that meeting and are all about helping to connect with more people my age. My time here has shown me that there really are people out there who want to do good. I believe that showing young people that there are companies and industries out there that do want to do good is exactly how to gain the interest of teenagers.

I speak very positively about the Alliance and not out of bias – as I stated before, I believe in honesty, and I really do love the people and work that is done here.

This is my final blog as the first High School Intern at the Risk and Insurance Research Academy. I’m really going to miss doing all of this. I’m going to miss developing ways to make the High School Program better and making ideas for social media and writing about my experiences. I’m going to miss working with everyone here every day. I’m incredibly proud of the changes I have made and the insight I was able to provide. I want to give a special thank you to everyone who has helped me on my journey here and say how grateful I am for everything.

To all my readers – I appreciate you and the time you give me each week.

Officially signing off,

Sal West, High School Intern💗