Hansen Chai and His Internship Journey with Get Involved Foundation

Hansen & Marguerite Hancock

Today’s student project spotlight is on Hansen Chai, who has completed three internship projects with Get Involved over the past 2 years. Hansen is a high schooler in the Bay Area and is passionate about technology. 

For Hansen’s first project, he helped evaluate technology needs at nonprofits. In order to learn about the use of tech, he empathized with the target audience through interviews with a multitude of representatives at various nonprofits in order to learn about the devices used. Surprisingly, he learned that most nonprofits do not need expensive hardware devices but instead relied on project management software to delegate tasks.

For his second project, Hansen sought to introduce East Palo students to technology through lessons with virtual reality. He developed a curriculum to teach by using previous knowledge and hours of research. Hansen said that the biggest challenge in this challenge was coming up with a curriculum, as he often “did not know what to put.” However, because students in East Palo Alto often do not have access to state of the art technology lessons, Hansen preserved because he hoped to use his love for technology to bridge the gap. Unfortunately, he was unable to teach his curriculum due to COVID-19 but hopes to do so later.

Hansen & Russell Hancock

For Hansen’s third project, he learned about Palo Alto’s use of solar energy and then sought to inform residents of this energy option. To do this, Hansen talked to Rebecca Navarro, the manager of solar power for the Palo Alto Unified School District. After his interview, he learned much about the current uses of solar power in Palo Alto and found information on how people could switch to solar power. He said that the biggest surprise while working on his project was that, “solar energy actually works” and that it produces a lot of power. He then used his newfound knowledge to create and distribute graphics informing Palo Alto residents about solar power in order to increase awareness.

Throughout his three projects, Hansen learned much about working with adults and communication. He says that one of the biggest challenges for all his projects was scheduling meetings and interview times. Often, it was hard to pin down a specific date or people would fail to respond. However, after his three projects at Get Involved Foundation, he has developed valuable skills in communication that he can go on to use in the real world and even into his career. 

Get Involved Foundation specializes in matching students with meaningful, long-term service opportunities that match with their interests. Start your unique internship today or email projects@getinvolvedfoundation.org to learn more about opportunities like this!