Husker Internships: Sam's Nonprofit Intern Experience
College of Business
Author
07/17/2025
Added
1
Plays
Description
Sam McCracken, management major from Scottsdale, Arizona, talks with Assistant Dean Rachel Larson about his internship experience at Active Minds, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. that mobilizes youth to transform mental health norms in society, and how the College of Business at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln helped him get it. His management major centers on his experience in the Clifton Builders Program, which develops students with high leadership and entrepreneurial potential and empowers them to build businesses, lead teams and transform communities. Sam started a new club called Big Red Bags Cornhole Club and is involved in the Nebraska Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program and Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
Searchable Transcript
Toggle between list and paragraph view.
- [00:00:00.400]Hello, my name is Rachel Larson
- [00:00:02.560]and I'm the Assistant Dean of
- [00:00:03.840]Academic and Career Development
- [00:00:05.440]at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- [00:00:06.980]College of Business. Part of my
- [00:00:08.950]role is to work with
- [00:00:10.080]students and finding their
- [00:00:11.390]career path and so I'm so
- [00:00:12.510]excited to be joined today by
- [00:00:14.030]Sam McCracken
- [00:00:15.200]who's here to tell us a little
- [00:00:16.410]bit about his really cool
- [00:00:17.480]internship opportunity.
- [00:00:18.800]Thank you, it's great to be
- [00:00:19.620]here. Well Sam, why don't you
- [00:00:20.880]tell us a little bit about you?
- [00:00:22.050]Where
- [00:00:22.160]are you from? What's your major?
- [00:00:23.750]Yeah, so I'm originally from
- [00:00:25.040]Overland Park, Kansas and moved
- [00:00:26.560]to Scottsdale, Arizona when I
- [00:00:28.250]was around 11 years old and
- [00:00:30.020]coming back to Nebraska for
- [00:00:31.560]college was
- [00:00:32.080]extremely important for me as
- [00:00:33.580]my grandfather and my father
- [00:00:35.020]both went here. So tradition is
- [00:00:36.720]extremely important. When I got
- [00:00:38.410]to campus, I knew I wanted to
- [00:00:39.790]be really involved so starting
- [00:00:41.280]that
- [00:00:41.440]off I joined a fraternity which
- [00:00:43.050]was great. I went on to have a
- [00:00:44.590]couple leadership roles within
- [00:00:46.240]the
- [00:00:46.320]fraternity, then went on to
- [00:00:48.490]found my own RSO called the
- [00:00:50.480]Cornhole Club. It was really
- [00:00:52.470]fun to do
- [00:00:53.120]and then went on from there to
- [00:00:54.320]join the Builders Program
- [00:00:56.560]in the Center for Entrepreneurship
- [00:00:58.160]and then most recently joined
- [00:00:59.120]the Accelerator Program within
- [00:01:01.150]the
- [00:01:01.280]Center for Entrepreneurship.
- [00:01:03.090]Excellent, and so those all led
- [00:01:04.840]you to an internship
- [00:01:07.200]opportunity.
- [00:01:08.080]Can you tell us a little bit
- [00:01:08.950]more about your internship?
- [00:01:10.020]Yeah, so this past summer I
- [00:01:11.170]worked
- [00:01:11.520]with Active Minds and they're a
- [00:01:12.930]mental health non-profit out of
- [00:01:14.400]Washington, D.C.
- [00:01:15.440]and what they do is they
- [00:01:16.770]support and educate students K
- [00:01:18.590]through college on mental
- [00:01:20.140]health
- [00:01:20.560]awareness and they have events
- [00:01:22.010]and pop-ups and speakers and
- [00:01:23.330]all sorts of things to educate
- [00:01:24.800]people.
- [00:01:25.280]Excellent, so what did you do
- [00:01:26.560]for them? I know social media
- [00:01:27.860]is a big passion of yours. Yeah,
- [00:01:29.320]for
- [00:01:29.360]sure. I was a social media
- [00:01:31.100]marketing intern so what I did
- [00:01:32.920]was created content around
- [00:01:35.120]their different
- [00:01:35.600]campaigns and just daily things
- [00:01:37.360]coming up with news articles to
- [00:01:39.060]post and you know continuing
- [00:01:40.720]Active Minds mission of
- [00:01:41.720]educating people on mental
- [00:01:42.870]health awareness. So how'd you
- [00:01:44.320]get interested in
- [00:01:45.360]social media as a possible
- [00:01:46.580]career opportunity? I've been
- [00:01:48.110]interested in social media for
- [00:01:49.550]as
- [00:01:49.760]long as I can remember. When I
- [00:01:51.460]was as young as I think
- [00:01:52.640]elementary school I started
- [00:01:54.230]making, you know,
- [00:01:55.280]NFL highlight pages and college
- [00:01:57.190]highlight pages and all sorts
- [00:01:58.990]of things and you know I kind
- [00:02:00.650]of lost
- [00:02:00.960]that passion a little bit
- [00:02:01.930]through middle school and high
- [00:02:03.140]school but then kind of picked
- [00:02:04.450]it up again in
- [00:02:04.960]college. So this internship was
- [00:02:07.330]remote, right? It was. So how
- [00:02:09.710]was that experience? It was a
- [00:02:11.680]little
- [00:02:12.000]difficult getting used to it at
- [00:02:13.160]first kind of getting your
- [00:02:14.140]social interaction through a
- [00:02:15.360]screen
- [00:02:15.680]but after a while it was
- [00:02:17.160]outstanding. Active Minds has
- [00:02:18.860]what they call coffee talks and
- [00:02:20.790]so you can,
- [00:02:21.600]you know, put in your calendar
- [00:02:23.160]30-minute windows where you can
- [00:02:25.020]go
- [00:02:25.280]in and speak with anyone within
- [00:02:26.700]the company and so I really
- [00:02:27.890]took advantage of that to see
- [00:02:29.440]and learn as much as I can in
- [00:02:30.760]the summer that I was with them
- [00:02:32.260]online. That's awesome. So how
- [00:02:34.870]did
- [00:02:34.960]you find this internship?
- [00:02:35.930]Because I know it was in
- [00:02:36.700]Washington DC, right? Yeah, it
- [00:02:37.910]was. Technically based.
- [00:02:39.440]Yeah, I found it through Handshake
- [00:02:40.980]and so that was a little
- [00:02:41.950]difficult as well scrolling
- [00:02:43.200]through
- [00:02:43.280]the many different
- [00:02:44.410]opportunities on there but when
- [00:02:46.320]I saw a non-profit social media
- [00:02:48.240]marketing
- [00:02:48.640]internship I was like that's
- [00:02:49.720]something I definitely want to
- [00:02:50.900]do and learn more about.
- [00:02:51.840]Because I know non-profit's an
- [00:02:53.190]interest area of yours, right?
- [00:02:54.800]It is,
- [00:02:55.280]I've been volunteering for a
- [00:02:56.580]long time in high school. I
- [00:02:57.890]completed about 120 some hours
- [00:03:00.080]of
- [00:03:00.240]community service, loved
- [00:03:01.770]volunteering in college, worked
- [00:03:03.720]as a philanthropy chair in my
- [00:03:05.300]fraternity
- [00:03:05.840]once again and then we raised
- [00:03:07.900]about $20,000 for Thanksgiving
- [00:03:11.180]this past year. That's great.
- [00:03:13.330]Well,
- [00:03:13.760]the College of Business has
- [00:03:15.120]what are called our
- [00:03:16.070]Professional Enhancement
- [00:03:17.410]Program courses. So the
- [00:03:18.640]PrEP classes are four one
- [00:03:20.000]credit hour pass/no pass
- [00:03:21.370]classes that are required of
- [00:03:22.930]all students before
- [00:03:25.280]graduation, which will help
- [00:03:26.540]them to learn more about
- [00:03:27.540]themselves, how to find
- [00:03:28.510]internships and
- [00:03:29.360]jobs, and transition to life
- [00:03:30.610]after college. So how did the
- [00:03:31.910]Professional Enhancement
- [00:03:33.060]Program courses
- [00:03:34.160]help you in either finding your
- [00:03:35.880]internship or actually accomplishing
- [00:03:38.080]your tasks on your
- [00:03:39.040]internship? I think what helped
- [00:03:40.440]me the most was the mock
- [00:03:41.330]interviews. I was not a very
- [00:03:43.520]confident
- [00:03:44.000]interviewer when I was first
- [00:03:45.450]starting out, so being able to
- [00:03:46.880]go into a space where you know
- [00:03:48.160]they're not necessarily looking
- [00:03:49.210]to hire, they're looking to
- [00:03:50.090]teach someone how to interview
- [00:03:51.200]properly
- [00:03:51.920]kind of took a lot of load off
- [00:03:53.530]my back and I was able to
- [00:03:55.280]walk in there confidently and
- [00:03:56.940]learn you know more so than be
- [00:03:58.550]nervous. Well, it also helps
- [00:04:00.080]when you
- [00:04:00.320]have really good things to talk
- [00:04:02.010]about such as your experience
- [00:04:03.640]in your fraternity as the Vice
- [00:04:05.120]President
- [00:04:05.520]of Communications. Yeah, as I
- [00:04:06.780]talked about earlier you know I
- [00:04:07.950]kind of found my love again for
- [00:04:09.240]social
- [00:04:09.600]media when I was in college and
- [00:04:10.970]that was really through the
- [00:04:12.230]Vice President of
- [00:04:13.060]Communications role.
- [00:04:14.320]You know, a lot of my friends
- [00:04:15.440]are like this is something you
- [00:04:16.630]should definitely do and you
- [00:04:17.870]know
- [00:04:18.000]they have supported me and
- [00:04:19.150]lifted me up through my entire
- [00:04:20.440]career here as an undergraduate
- [00:04:23.120]and so
- [00:04:25.280]you know this is something I
- [00:04:26.360]could really do as a career
- [00:04:27.380]really boosted my confidence.
- [00:04:28.800]Well,
- [00:04:29.680]and I know that you have not
- [00:04:31.130]only an interest in non-profit
- [00:04:32.830]and social media but
- [00:04:34.080]entrepreneurship
- [00:04:35.040]is of interest to you as well,
- [00:04:36.660]right? So, I recently joined
- [00:04:38.400]the Entrepreneurship Accelerator
- [00:04:40.160]program and that has been
- [00:04:41.370]outstanding. Dr. Sam Nelson
- [00:04:42.990]approached me last year and was
- [00:04:44.490]like
- [00:04:44.880]we are starting this new
- [00:04:45.890]program. I think this is
- [00:04:47.000]something that you would be
- [00:04:48.160]interested in. I'm
- [00:04:48.960]like yeah it definitely is. So,
- [00:04:51.050]I applied and have been
- [00:04:52.430]learning non-stop since we have
- [00:04:54.480]had peer group,
- [00:04:55.280]and mentors, and speakers come
- [00:04:57.020]in, and all sorts of things to
- [00:04:58.690]be able to elevate our
- [00:04:59.600]businesses no
- [00:05:00.160]matter what we may be working
- [00:05:01.540]on. That's awesome. So, with
- [00:05:03.210]your leadership experiences,
- [00:05:04.880]your
- [00:05:05.040]extracurricular, and then the
- [00:05:06.730]classes that you've taken, what
- [00:05:08.500]are some skills and experiences
- [00:05:10.330]that
- [00:05:10.480]you really brought into your
- [00:05:11.680]internship in order to be
- [00:05:12.730]successful? In the Builders
- [00:05:14.410]program, we did
- [00:05:15.520]an engagement consulting
- [00:05:17.450]project where we worked with a
- [00:05:19.620]non-profit out of Indiana. It's
- [00:05:21.750]called Hope
- [00:05:22.080]Alive. And from there we sent
- [00:05:23.750]them our Q12 survey. And then
- [00:05:25.120]we sent them our Q12 survey.
- [00:05:25.200]And then we
- [00:05:25.280]reviewed how their employee
- [00:05:27.350]engagement was compared to that
- [00:05:29.670]survey. And then took their
- [00:05:31.200]answers and put it into a
- [00:05:32.250]report and then gave it back to
- [00:05:33.570]them with a bunch of
- [00:05:34.380]suggestions as to
- [00:05:35.280]what to do. And then we then
- [00:05:36.830]took those findings and
- [00:05:38.140]presented those to executives
- [00:05:39.850]and employees
- [00:05:40.720]at Gallup, which was a big
- [00:05:42.270]auditorium we presented in.
- [00:05:43.800]Probably about 300 people were
- [00:05:45.840]there or more.
- [00:05:46.800]And so, that was kind of the
- [00:05:48.230]first time on a big stage me
- [00:05:49.590]presenting. And so, my fear of
- [00:05:51.280]public
- [00:05:51.600]speaking went away immediately,
- [00:05:52.850]you know, after doing that.
- [00:05:53.950]Because when you're presenting,
- [00:05:55.280]to a large group of 300 people,
- [00:05:56.750]including executives, you know,
- [00:05:58.000]you get over that public
- [00:05:58.960]speaking fear pretty quickly.
- [00:06:00.180]Oh, yeah. Well, I know the
- [00:06:01.360]Builders program is really good
- [00:06:02.640]at
- [00:06:02.800]helping you to kind of look at
- [00:06:04.410]a variety of different things,
- [00:06:06.320]kind of disrupt the industry,
- [00:06:08.480]and develop some really good
- [00:06:09.430]management skills, right? Well,
- [00:06:10.640]100%. I've been taught that,
- [00:06:12.800]you know, there's great
- [00:06:13.970]managers, but you can also be a
- [00:06:15.420]great number one player. And
- [00:06:17.040]through that,
- [00:06:17.520]I've learned a tremendous
- [00:06:18.650]amount about my skill set and
- [00:06:19.880]how I can be a great leader and
- [00:06:21.150]manager and
- [00:06:21.680]go from there. So, how did you
- [00:06:24.160]take those experiences
- [00:06:25.280]and apply them in your
- [00:06:26.180]internship? You know, at the
- [00:06:27.980]beginning of my internship,
- [00:06:29.920]I was expecting to have one
- [00:06:31.250]manager, but she left to pursue
- [00:06:32.870]another career. So, I was told
- [00:06:34.960]to report
- [00:06:35.360]to a different manager. And so,
- [00:06:37.430]getting over that change and
- [00:06:38.940]that adaptability really
- [00:06:40.440]quickly
- [00:06:41.040]helped me with, you know, with
- [00:06:42.790]the Builders program taking
- [00:06:44.340]that over. And my new boss was
- [00:06:46.480]absolutely amazing. His name's
- [00:06:48.620]Dante Worth, and he really
- [00:06:50.310]taught me a lot about, you know,
- [00:06:51.840]being open in a workplace and
- [00:06:53.530]being a good communicator. And,
- [00:06:55.280]how to properly work in a high-functioning
- [00:06:57.440]organization. That's great. So,
- [00:06:59.760]what's one
- [00:07:01.040]thing that you were like, I'm
- [00:07:02.720]so proud of this accomplishment
- [00:07:04.560]in my internship? I think the
- [00:07:06.240]number one thing was working on
- [00:07:07.870]the Ask Campaign with MTV. It
- [00:07:09.540]was really great to see a
- [00:07:10.780]company
- [00:07:11.200]like MTV wanting to use their
- [00:07:13.040]platform to spread mental
- [00:07:14.730]health awareness. And so,
- [00:07:16.720]seeing that change
- [00:07:17.600]within a high-functioning
- [00:07:19.410]organization was really
- [00:07:21.080]inspiring to me. And you got to
- [00:07:22.850]work with some
- [00:07:23.280]cool celebrities with that,
- [00:07:24.220]didn't you? One hundred percent.
- [00:07:25.360]Alexander Stewart,
- [00:07:27.280]we brought him on as an
- [00:07:28.470]ambassador this summer. And so,
- [00:07:30.470]I got to work with his PR team
- [00:07:32.080]putting
- [00:07:32.400]together graphics and different
- [00:07:33.700]things to post, showing that he's
- [00:07:35.960]now an ambassador for ActiveMinds.
- [00:07:38.240]That's great. So, you're
- [00:07:39.840]graduating in August here. What's
- [00:07:42.380]next for you?
- [00:07:44.160]Yeah. So, I plan to move back
- [00:07:45.640]to Scottsdale, Arizona and
- [00:07:47.200]pursue a career in marketing
- [00:07:49.040]and/or entrepreneurship. So,
- [00:07:50.580]how has your kind of collective
- [00:07:52.720]college of
- [00:07:53.200]it business experience prepared
- [00:07:55.020]you for that life after college?
- [00:07:56.960]It's really taught me to kind
- [00:07:58.090]of roll with the punches and
- [00:07:59.180]take change how it comes.
- [00:08:00.640]You can only play the cards
- [00:08:01.610]that you have in your hand. You
- [00:08:03.140]can't really cheat and
- [00:08:04.480]pull someone else's card, you
- [00:08:05.590]know. So, you just got to work
- [00:08:06.730]with what you have, so.
- [00:08:08.160]Excellent. Well, thank you so
- [00:08:09.480]much, Sam, for sharing your
- [00:08:10.650]story. I know you've got a
- [00:08:11.680]bright
- [00:08:11.920]future ahead of you, and we're
- [00:08:12.960]excited to see where you go
- [00:08:13.840]from here.
- [00:08:14.320]Thanks so much.
- [00:08:23.120]Thank you.
The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!
You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.
Log in to post comments
Embed
Copy the following code into your page
HTML
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%; overflow: hidden; position:relative; -webkit-box-flex: 1; flex-grow: 1;"> <iframe style="bottom: 0; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; border: 0; height: 100%; width: 100%;" src="https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/25176?format=iframe&autoplay=0" title="Video Player: Husker Internships: Sam's Nonprofit Intern Experience" allowfullscreen ></iframe> </div>
Comments
0 Comments