Twinsburg Resident Tests Career Goal Through Internship

2014 Nov 3

Twinsburg resident, Kayla Toth, who is a junior political science major at Ashland University, interned for 10 weeks this summer in the online membership office at the Heritage Foundation.

As a junior, Toth is at the stage in her college career where she says students decide exactly what they want to do for a career. She hopes for a career in development work for a political nonprofit organization.

Toth's duties for the internship included responding to donor emails and calls; communicating with people all over the country and listening to their concerns; and updating donors of the Heritage policy and briefings. Her duties included posting 200-word summaries of each briefing to a blog, myheritage.org.

As an Ashbrook Scholar at Ashland University, Toth explained how the program gave her confidence when entering her internship.

"Because of my study of American political principles, I feel very prepared for the political world," Toth said. "We have to understand where we're coming from to know where we're going. I have a firm understanding of what I believe in and am not so swayed by popular culture."

After completing her internship, Toth feels that there is definitely a growing need for people skilled in fundraising to help public policy organizations develop their programs. She explained that students need to hard work, and have a strong desire to succeed.

She said she feels blessed to have had an opportunity to try her hand at the profession that she plans to later make her career.

Toth is the daughter of Jeff and Robin Toth, and is a 2012 graduate of Twinsburg High School.

Ashland University, which has been ranked in the top 200 colleges and universities in U.S. News and World Report's National Universities category, is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong, applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students.