Hello to all supporters, grantees, and board members!
My name is Caitlin Bates and I am the new intern here at Mary’s Pence! I am a senior Communication Studies student at St. Catherine University. I have an associates in American Sign Language/Interpreting from my local community college MCC back in Texas. I chose to change my major because I’ve always been more interested in how people of all types and cultures communicate and my curiosity was stronger than my love of ASL.
I chose to intern at Mary’s Pence because I have a passion for organizations that support women, especially women across cultures. The internship at Mary’s Pence will give me experience maintaining professional social media accounts and writing professional monthly newsletters, both of which are things I’ve been interested in for a while.
I am the oldest of three children; I have a younger sister and two younger brothers. I actually managed to convince my sister to come to school in Minnesota with me, so she moved up here too and is a nursing major at St. Kates. Despite the decision to move cross-country away from (most of) them, I love my family and the time I spend with them whether it’s at the lake or the local half-price bookstore.
I developed a deep and abiding love of reading from my mother, as did my sister. In my free time I like to crochet, knit, read, and write fictional stories. I’ve been crocheting since I was eleven years old, and knitting for two and a half years. I’ve been writing for the last six years, and I hope to one day publish a book I wrote. I also love spending time with my friends, my sister, and my uncles, all of which give me ideas for things to crochet and write.
When I graduate, I hope to work either with a publishing agency as an editor or assistant editor working with fiction genres, or with the communications branch of an organization working with people with autism/Asperger’s.
At school, I am part of the transfer students club and the LGBT+ PRIDE club. In fact, I will be attending a conference for activism and leadership in the PRIDE community later this February.
I look forward to working with you all!