Indiana has never been a state that I have found very appealing. Although yes, I go to school in Indiana, northwest Indiana and the area around Valparaiso University has a very different feel than the rest of Indiana. The rest of the state sees what they know as “The Region” as a suburb of Chicago more so than part of the rest of the state.

When I got placed in Indianapolis, I was skeptical, although it seemed everyone else was excited for me and kept “saying congratulations.” I didn’t know what to expect because I’ve only been to Indianapolis one time prior to the internship. I didn’t know what there was to do around the area or how the people are. During my interview with my placement here in Indy, my now supervisor, Kristen Fuhs Wells, vice president of Indiana Humanities, asked me what my thoughts on Indiana were. I responded saying, “I have my opinions,” but I went on to explain that I hear all the stereotypes about Indiana, but couldn’t judge for myself since I haven’t seen to the rest of the state yet.

From the Indiana Humanities intern photoshoot outside of the office.

Turns out you should not make assumptions about a state, even if the stereotypes are true. I have been in Indianapolis for the past two weeks and have had the most fantastic experience, both inside and outside of my internship placement. I am placed at Indiana Humanities, a statewide non-profit that whose mission is to “connect people, open minds and enrich lives by creating and facilitating programs that encourage Hoosiers to think, read and talk.”

Over the past two weeks at Indiana Humanities, my focus has been on research and alumni engagement of the Lilly Scholars in Indiana. For those of you who don’t know, Lilly Endowment Inc. hands out a scholarship to a couple graduating high school students in each of the ninety-two counties in Indiana and provides them free tuition to either a private or public university in Indiana. Indiana Humanities received a large grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc. to run the research on the Lilly Scholars. I specifically have been looking at other mentorship and leadership programs across the country and seeing what they do to engage alumni, and have been using that information to help begin to create a Lilly Scholar alumni network.

The Indiana Humanities staff having fun bonding at the Indy Eleven soccer game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

With Indiana Humanities, we also have taken an outing to the Indy Eleven game at Lucas Oil Statidum which was a great bonding time for the entire staff. As well, we threw a “Garden Party” to help show off the new renovations of the house and had plenty of visitors. In addition, through the internship I got the opportunity to attend the Indiana Philanthropy Alliance (IPA) Conference just outside of the city and got a chance to meet with numerous staff from Community Foundations (those that help choose the students the Lilly Scholarship goes to) across the state to see what ways they are engaging alumni and what ways they would like to see more engagement. Also, in a few weeks, we are going to have our annual Bar Crawl around Indianapolis. This year, the theme is “Out in Indy” and this historic bar crawl through the city will explore stories of Indianapolis’s LGBTQ community at five different locations. Next month, I am going to help facilitate an event by Indiana Humanities and the Hoosier Environmental Council where we go kayaking on the White River and read while hiking and kayaking in the area which I’m very excited about. 

From the walk at Eagle Creek Park.

Although, for the past week, work hasn’t been the only thing I have done. I was off Monday, June 4th, and decided to take a long hike through Eagle Creek Park, only a twenty-minute drive outside of Indianapolis. The walk was about seven miles, but it was a beautiful path with a lot of beautiful plants and animals. Along with that, the other CAPS Fellows in Indy and I actually try to go on walks almost every other day, just so we can go out and explore the city. It has been a blast getting to know them and I really look forward to the rest of the summer with them.

From the Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn at White River State Park where Post Malone performed.

Lastly, I got the chance to go to a Post Malone concert on Wednesday, June 6th. Another CAPS Fellow who was placed in Indy and I actually got FREE tickets to the concert. One of Post Malone’s friends from backstage came up to us and handed us tickets to the concert (just to let you know, the tickets were priced at $250 – $300 dollars). It was such a fantastic night and got to see the artist who is known for his hit song “Congratulations,” where the title of this blog comes from.

Though it’s only been two weeks, I think the next eight are going to be a wonderful time and I will now forever be grateful to Indy for the opportunities I’ve already had here.