Featured Intern: Bolei Yin

Listen for Life's featured intern is Bolei Yin (pictured at right, in the LFL office in Oakland, California), originally from Yang Zhou, China. She worked at the Listen for Life offices in Oakland during the summer months of 2011 and now continues to be a part of the Listen for Life team from her university campus in Albany, New York.

Listen for Life's Founder and Artistic Director, Donna Stoering, recently interviewed Bolei by phone:

Donna: How did you first learn about Listen for Life?
Bolei: A family friend told me about the organization and I looked at the websites, both Listen for Life and Donna Stoering's website.......I was looking for a place to intern for the summer where I could learn a lot of different things and broaden my experience, and from LFL's website I could see that there were a lot of different projects that would offer a great deal of experience and a lot of learning! Many organizations' websites seem quite limited in the information they give out or the activities open to volunteers/interns.

Donna: How much time each week do you spend with Listen for Life?
Bolei: Well because this was my summer break from university, I had more time than I normally would. I started out doing 3 days per week and also volunteering at another nonprofit (an autism center) on other days, but eventually I decided I wanted to be involved with Listen for Life full-time and learn to do more types of projects, so I volunteered to switch to an internship of 4-5 days per week until summer ended and I came back to university in Albany, New York.

Donna: Where are you from?
Bolei: Yang Zhou, China. I first came to the USA in August 2009 to start a Master's degree in Accounting at State University of New York....and this summer was my first trip to the West Coast!

Donna: My gosh - So why then weren't you traveling around sightseeing instead of doing an internship full-time here in our tiny offices, Bolei?
Bolei: That would be fun for a couple of weeks but a waste of three months....I wanted to really accomplish something, learn new skills, and make a difference. I am very glad I decided to come to Listen for Life and I enjoyed what I was doing here!

Donna: What are you learning or what projects are you working on?
Bolei: I came here as an Accounting intern and on that front, I helped to create annual Financial Statements for Listen for Life and learned to use Quickbooks which was not a program I had used before.

I always had a feeling I would also be interested in event planning, even though I had not done any, and once at Listen for Life offices I was excited to actually get to be a part of event planning for many of the 16 LFL events coming up and discovered that I really do enjoy that process very much, and will continue to help Listen for Life in that department from my laptop now that I am returned to NY.

As an intern I also helped with creating a new online music delivery service that Listen for Life is involved in - getting licenses and tracks from our LFL musicians and working on those online with LFL's head of technology in the UK, Ian McLaren.

Donna: What would you recommend to others who think they would like to intern, or volunteer, or set up their own chapters of Listen for Life in their own communities?
Bolei: I know it's not possible for everyone who wants to intern or volunteer with LFL to come to California and work with the founders, as I have fortunately been able to do. It's also perhaps not realistic for people to try and set up their own chapter of Listen for Life without some personal contact with experienced LFL family members. So I think the ideal way to begin is to see the schedule and locations of upcoming Listen for Life events, projects or concerts, and contact the headquarters to offer help on the upcoming event that most appeals to you or fits your schedule.

For example, now that I am back at University here in NY, I would love to hear from LOTS of interested volunteers based anywhere in the greater NY area, who can help me in my continuing Listen for Life role as the East Coast coordinator for LFL's cross-cultural benefit concert at Carnegie Hall on January 8th!!!!! I am so excited!

Donna: What about some day in China for Listen for Life projects?
Bolei: I definitely think it is necessary to bring Listen for Life projects, especially the Travels with Music program, into China, and I also think it is entirely possible......let's hope we find the right people there to help make this happen soon, but I personally plan to stay in the USA, and to stay involved with Listen for Life! :)

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