For the 2018 Spring semester, I interned at Lake View Cemetery. I’m an English major, so everytime someone finds out about my internship with the cemetery they look really confused and ask what I was doing there.

Technically I was interning for the non-profit branch, the Lake View Cemetery Foundation, that organizes and hosts tours and programs for public outreach. I proofread work for the Foundation, assisted in researching and designing several tours, and volunteered during the events.

I had never worked with a non-profit organization before, so I thought it would be a good experience. I wasn’t wrong, it was better than I expected.

Cleveland is not my hometown; I grew up in Mansfield, Ohio - about an hour and a half south of Cleveland. I actually grew up in Ontario, right beside Mansfield, but I’ve learned not to say Ontario because everyone always replies with, “Canada?” To which I say, “No, not Canada, Ontario is a city in Ohio….you know what? Mansfield. I’m from Mansfield.”

The community in Ontario is not very inviting. Everyone keeps to themselves as much as they can, or else they stick to communicating within small cliques. Growing up in this kind of environment, I never fully understood the large concept of community or wanting to participate in community events.

I had never felt a reason to become involved in the local community until I interned at the Lake View Cemetery Foundation in Cleveland.

When I applied and interviewed for the internship at Lake View, I wasn’t expecting to redefine my sense of community; I was expecting to edit, proofread, and research.

I did edit, proofread, and research, but I also found a new passion volunteering at the tours and events that were organized by the Foundation.

When I was volunteering at the tours hosted by Lake View, I was overwhelmed by the public support for these programs; every tour was full, the guests were active participants in discussion, and there was genuine interest in the topics and history of the cemetery and city.

This opened my eyes to what I have been missing in my hometown of Ontario - a sense of kinship and connection based on the history and past of the city.

I have volunteered at the local branch of the public library back home, over more than two or three years during the summer reading program. However, the participation and support for community events in Ontario is nothing compared to Cleveland.

When I compare the past year in Cleveland to the first 18 years of my life in Ontario, there’s no wonder why most of my classmates and I wanted to move.

Smaller cities and towns would gain so much if they focused on building a better bond within the community and teaching kids what a good community should look and feel like.