Your Sunshine - Just As Happy As It Sounds

If you are a college student who is looking for (or has ever looked for) a summer internship, you know how discouraging rejection after rejection can be. The feeling of defeat when you send your resume to what feels like a million companies, and more often than not never get the satisfaction of hearing back. While that may not always be the case, it was for me. Until I came across Your Sunshine.

While I hadn’t originally been interested in the nonprofit sector, I decided to send in an application anyways and to my pleasant surprise, I heard back almost immediately. When I met with them for the first time, I was instantly taken aback by how warm, kind, and friendly everybody in the company was to me and to those they were surrounded by. They were just as bright as their name had indicated. This organization is dedicated to helping and empowering children and adults with special needs by providing dozens of different therapeutic programs and workshops to help these disabled individuals develop their social skills, conquer anxiety, make new friends, and recognize their talents, gifts, and extraordinary abilities. Many of these programs also help with their education. A few offered include foreign language, music, and art. They also constantly put on fun events like picnics, talent shows, and hiking! I was astounded by how much this company has to offer, especially for only being a few years old. So after just one meeting, I was very inspired by these people and how passionate they were about their work and all the good they do for the community.

Anastasia Martynova, the president and co-founder of this up and coming nonprofit, works day and night, weekends, and holidays to keep this company going. In the few weeks that I have known her, I’ve honestly never met anyone in my life so dedicated to their job. She does it all, and does it with a smile on her face because she loves what she’s doing and is really making a difference in the lives of those with special needs.

This is a truly remarkable organization, and I would highly recommend any of these programs to anyone who fits the bill. If you have a passion for serving the community and working with people with special needs, this is definitely the place to get in touch with. I can say that after the exhaustiveness of applying to internships for months, it truly all paid off to get to work at Your Sunshine with such genuine, positive, and hard-working people that are doing so much good in Oakton, Virginia and for the greater disabled community.