Connecting Students and Chapel Hill Residents in Downtown Chapel Hill
By Brianna Patterson
As an international student, Claire Doan ‘25, a media and journalism major at UNC, has lived in Chapel Hill nearly full-time since she first arrived at Carolina. She says that while many students think of Chapel Hill as a university town and don’t consider what it is like when students leave for breaks, she has had the opportunity to see what Chapel Hill offers beyond the campus community and considers it her home. She was introduced to the APPLES Service-Learning program through her sorority, alpha Kappa Delta Phi, which frequently collaborates with APPLES. After reading about previous APPLES interns, she realized that “this is a really good opportunity, because it’s in this community where we work, where we go to school, but at the same time there’s a lot more for us to explore in terms of career opportunities.” When applications opened for summer 2023 APPLES Service-Learning internships, she saw a marketing coordinator position at the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership and decided to apply.
As the marketing coordinator for the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, Doan worked on various projects to foster community engagement and promote local businesses. Her daily tasks included writing newsletters, editing stickers and posters, writing blog posts and meeting with local business owners. Before this position, she did not have experience with nonprofit marketing and said “I didn’t know how big of an impact I could actually have on this community. Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership helped me realize that even if you’re working for a nonprofit, marketing is still necessary to connect to people and connect people with each other.” Doan sees a disconnect between students, who are in Chapel Hill temporarily and go home over breaks, and permanent residents. Throughout her internship with Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, her goal was to bridge these two groups and create a more connected Chapel Hill community.
Doan encourages students to apply for an APPLES internship because it provides a unique opportunity to engage with community organizations while building skills for a future career. She says working with a small organization pushed her to explore new responsibilities, expand her skill set and gain confidence in her abilities. APPLES Service-Learning internships occur in the spring and summer, and students are paid and enroll in a course for academic credit.