A Postcard from: Aldercy Lam ’19

Every morning, I am encouraged to take a moment to think about how I am feeling, why I feel that way, and what I can do to feel my best. Whether it be working out, getting another hour of sleep, or getting a meal with friends before going into the office, this internship is untraditional in the best sense possible. I stumbled upon this organization while I was searching for an internship to do this summer, however, I didn’t expect that I would get way more than a position to put on my resume.

Laptop computer on desk

In the past, I’ve had amazing experiences with nonprofit organizations before, I did things that I loved and I met a lot of people, but in this position I was able to combine my knack for nonprofit work with a special focus on my own growth. My experience this summer has been incredibly transformative. As a rising senior, I’ve been able to appreciate and fully take advantage of the professional and personal growth opportunities this internship has provided me with.

This organization I am working with is called Calm Clarity. It is a social enterprise with a nonprofit side. The founder, who is my supervisor for the summer, uses this organization to teach people about the benefits of mindfulness and how we can utilize being mindful to overcome obstacles in our lives. After quitting a successful role in consulting, she went through a long journey of spiritual awakening, and brought back the idea of Calm Clarity to share with as many people as possible. In addition to founding this organization, she recently published a book in the spring about her story and her teachings.

I feel extremely lucky because I’ve not only attended a Calm Clarity retreat and read the book, but I’ve also been able to gain so much wisdom from the guidance of my supervisor. It’s been inspirational to work with someone successful who comes from a background that is similar to mine. It isn’t often that I meet a Vietnamese-Chinese woman who has made it out of the low-income neighborhoods of Philadelphia.

The work I’ve been doing this summer is focused on the nonprofit side of the organization. Besides from marketing these Mindfulness retreats to professionals, Calm Clarity has a College Scholars Program where they invite first-generation and low-income college students to attend at no cost. As a College Scholar myself, I’ve been working on reviewing and expanding the program by interviewing past college scholars, going through feedback surveys, and getting in contact with universities that may want to collaborate with Calm Clarity. Additionally, I’ve been figuring out ways to improve the social media use of Calm Clarity in order to support College Scholar Alumni and target more students to join. If you’re reading this, follow Calm Clarity on Instagram and Twitter! I promise there will be more content soon. Another exciting project I’m working on is figuring out how to bring Calm Clarity on campus, so be on the lookout for mindfulness clubs and flyers on campus!