My Intern Experience at Maydm
For the past four months, I have had the honor to work as an intern in one of the most passionate and driven teams ever. I thought it was funny that when I started at Maydm, Hidden Figures had just came out.
I remember thinking “They are gonna make the next Katherine Johnson, the next movie will be about Winnie.” The best way to describe Maydm is that it is full of super-heroes training super-heroes and geniuses to be.
I found it ironic that I was hired to be a social media intern because Maydm’s mission is to teach kids how to code, the entire organization is comprised of four computers. Nonetheless, I came in ready to find interesting articles and make fun posts that followers would love. My duty was to engage the Madison community, and it turned out to be not as hard as I thought it would be. Maydm is such a necessary organization in the Madison community, bringing everyone together for a common cause: STEM education. It seems that all of our followers just wanted to know what we are doing and how they can support us.
Working at Maydm taught me that for a project to come to fruition, whether that is starting a nonprofit, doing a social media campaign, or completing a website, drive and passion is key. When other people see that drive and relentless passion, they want to support you in any way.
I am so thankful to have been able to work on such a wonderful team, that supports one another and looks to each other for feedback. I am always excited to tell my friends and family where I work because Maydm is so needed not only for Madison, but the world.
Maydm embraces the ideas of teamwork, diversity, and hardwork that then translate to teaching the students. Maydm is actually here being change agents.
There were many days that I walked into Maydm’s office feeling tired and uninspired, and by the end of the day I would feel better because everyone on the team is so determined to make this organization the best it could be. Maydm is here to serve students who may have never thought that STEM was for them or were told STEM wasn’t for them. Maydm interrupts that, meeting kids where they are at and inspiring their visions. Maydm just want kids to learn to code so they can build their own things, to have ownership of things made by them. It’s beautiful.
Mariam Cooker, Communications Intern
BA Social Work & English ’17
University of Wisconsin- Madison
