From July to December 2020, I was a campus ambassador intern for the student-run startup Dive Chat based in UT Austin. Amid the global coronavirus pandemic, I collaborated with over 300 college students nationwide to market Dive’s app, which aims to reimagine group messaging by combining functionality with approachability, so that college students can plan less and connect more. 

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As a part of Dive Chat’s University of Maryland team, I was responsible for building the brand’s presence on campus via social media, so my daily tasks often included cold emailing and scheduling Zoom meetings to pitch Dive to student organizations. I also served as a designated point of contact for questions and help with the app, especially regarding technical issues. In addition to strategizing our outreach at UMD, I occasionally recruited fellow Terps to join our team as campus ambassadors.

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In late July, I became UMD’s campus HR manager—a role in which I sought to engage my co-interns and schedule monthly check-ins to gauge motivation. I also promoted a positive team environment through monthly socials and weekly challenges on our Slack workspace. Shortly after adopting this new role, I specialized in growth marketing, which involved brainstorming ideas for online communities that would appeal to UMD students and coordinating a mentorship program via the Dive Chat app.

 

For the remainder of my unpaid internship, I worked on helping Dive attract and retain new users after the company restructured itself. As a team engagement lead, my responsibilities were similar to those in my previous company positions except our marketing targeted a new campus instead. Although our efforts were less successful there, I still enjoyed the process of constructing online communities and connecting with other students who were as excited as I was about Dive.