Venture Out: Finding Yourself with AKPsi

“For whatever we lose (like a you or a me),
It's always our self we find in the sea.” 
― E.E. Cummings, 100 Selected Poems

The flow of water is resistant, patient and ever flowing. Alpha Kappa Psi teaches its members just that: to flow like water. Being a member of AKPsi encouraged me to be daring and just step into the waters. Literally, I travelled over 4000 miles across the North Atlantic Ocean and decided to gain unique work experience doing an internship in London.

This summer, I worked as a Marketing and Finance intern for a company called SportInspired. SportInspired is a social enterprise that fosters confidence and passion in young people through sport. This is done through running SportInspired Game Programs across the United Kingdom that are designed precisely to increase sports participation and inspire community engagement. My role in the company was to oversee and update the business management accounts while also assisting the marketing team through researching prospect corporate partners and offering appropriate CSR solutions. 

Through this internship I was able to combine my passion for sports and marketing and finance. I even had the opportunity to coach basketball to youth at some of our sport festivals. The biggest thing I got from this internship and my time abroad was gaining a better understanding of who I am as a person. Broadening my horizons, helped me to find a side of me that I never knew was there. I became friends with people I normally wouldn’t talk to and enjoyed activities I normally would find boring, even ate foods I normally wouldn’t try. AKPsi not only gave me the strength to step out of my comfort zone, but also tactics to maneuver around any obstacles in the way of me becoming the best me I can be. ​

by Brother Tiffany Banks