Intern Spotlight

Maxwell Song

Lowell Class of 2019

Spring 2016 Intern

Why did you join Leadership? When I first joined leadership, I was still a bit withdrawn from the world, and I didn’t really tend to speak to anyone besides the people I already knew. When I joined HIM in the first place, just as a regular volunteer, I had thought “This is great! I’m having fun volunteering and I’m meeting TONS of new people– people I would never have spoken to otherwise.” A few months later, an officer from the leadership program in HIM asked me if I was interested in learning more about leadership positions and what goes on behind the scenes. To this I thought “Hmm, I can meet more people and also work for the organization I love to volunteer for? That sounds amazing!” and immediately signed up, crossing my fingers and hoping that I’d get in.

How did Heart In Motion impact your life? The first time I ever volunteered anywhere was at the SF Food Bank with HIM, and I had no idea what to expect. I had almost no friends in Heart in Motion, so I just stayed in the corner by myself. Then some random person just came up to me, whom I now know was Netpheel, and asked me about myself for a Hearts of HIM piece. This loosened me up for what was about to happen–the interacting with other people part of volunteering. We were assigned to sort apples into good or bad boxes. Not hard right? But it was more efficient, we found out, to work with other people, so I was forced to work with two complete strangers.

What is one of your favorite memories or events from HIM? It seems silly now, how scared I was back then when it came to talking to people, because I now ace oral presentations. I can now do interviews and speak to any stranger with confidence, but public speaking was once one of my biggest phobias. So even though I worked with the two other people, I didn’t talk to them until halfway through our assignment. However, they eventually broke my shell, and in the end I was laughing with them, feeling amazing. This was my first, best, and most life changing experience in my life. Without the help of HIM and its amazing volunteer opportunities, I would never have gotten over my fear of speaking to strangers, and I wouldn’t be nearly as open as the person I am today.

Why do you think you were chosen for this spotlight? I think it’s because I meet deadlines and try my hardest whenever I can. I fill out forms with precision and patience. I always take time to finish my tasks, and I make sure to remain as punctual as possible. I take serious note of all the mistakes I make in order to never make them again.

What are your hobbies? I love to garden, because I love the idea of taking something that seems lifeless and dead and nurturing it into something that blossoms with life and color. It’s also just really calming and soothing to garden for hours, pulling out weeds or pruning plants. In my free time I also like to read, because it always makes me happy when I can just lose myself in worlds and realities that are in reality only a few inches away from my face, but thousands of miles away in my mind.