Pass it Forward Internship spotlight: William Soquet

Soquet is employed with the Richland Community College Foundation

I am currently the donor information and database coordinator at the Richland Community College Foundation in Decatur, Ill., which is about three hours southwest of Chicago.

With the foundation, I accept donations, prepare materials that are sent to donors, support the annual and major gift officers and assist in administering scholarships.

We were able to award $1.8 million in scholarships to over 1,000 Richland students last school year.

It’s incredible to see the immediate growth that happens when our students graduate and enter the community, and I’m grateful to be a small part of that.

I am also still involved in journalism as well.

I serve as editor-in-chief for the website “HomeRoom Show Choir” and am also a staff writer for LASTCAR.info, a motorsports website.

I learned so much from the Pass It Forward internship program.

It taught me deadlines, collaboration and technical skills, but most importantly, it helped me become a great storyteller.

You can have an intriguing storyline about almost anything, but it won’t amount to much if you don’t find the people behind that and make it relatable so that everyone can learn something from the story.

It was a pleasure interviewing everyone from high school athletes to Wayne Larrivee during my time with the Pass It Forward program, and I have taken forward everything that I learned.