In January, when I first started my internship at the Mansfield Youth Services Bureau, I was unsure of whether or not it was the type of placement I was in search of. When I first reached out to the Director of Youth Services, Pat Michalak, it was with the intention that I would be placed in a position where I could gain hands-on experience working with youth, ages 18 and under, but that was not what was available to me at the time. The bureau’s two initiatives that allow for direct involvement with youth, Big Friends and COPE, had already been filled at the beginning of the school year. However, Pat was so intrigued by my e-mail of inquiry that she did not wish to lose me as an intern.
After about a month of trying to generate a spot for me, we had an extensive collection of project ideas, but we finally decided on implementing an intergenerational program that would bridge the local, Glen Ridge Cooperative community and the youth of Mansfield, Connecticut. I was extremely impressed and appreciative of Pat’s determination to find a placement for me at the bureau even though, it was not a previously established intern or volunteer position. I was eager to start launching the program, but as I started meeting with the staff at Glen Ridge to receive feedback on the idea and to iron out the details, I realized that the project was deviating away from what I had envisioned. From the onset of the meeting, it was evident that no two people agreed on what the goal of this intergenerational program was, how the residents would perceive the idea or how I would be incorporating the youth into their community. I believed that, with this program, I would have the opportunity to engage both members of the community and the town’s youth in activities ranging from a field day with games and sports to an oral history project. Pat, on the other hand, led the staff to believe that my intentions were to assist the secretary with the community’s monthly newspaper and newsletter. Despite my best efforts to assuage the staff’s hesitation of having an outsider unnecessarily collaborate on the publications by stressing that, that by no means …show more content…
As of right now, we have two amazing high school seniors interviewing residents in their homes. It has been left up to the interviewee what they wish to discuss and, out of the five interviews that have been completed thus far, there has been no two stories that have been alike. One woman discussed the adoption of her daughter who was a different race then she while another discussed her time travelling the nation, including the time she spent living in Alaska with her family. While I am usually unable to be present at the interviews due to conflicting work and class schedules, I have had the opportunity to listen to the voice-recorded interviews as I am transcribing them. While I am facilitating most of the project from behind the scenes, Pat and I have discussed the opportunity for me to perform an interview on my own so that I can gain the same communication experiences that these two students are. Looking back, I am thankful that I did not settle for Pat’s original offer to assist with the newsletter and the newspaper because, if I had done so, I would not have had the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing initiative that I helped to conceptualize and
After about a month of trying to generate a spot for me, we had an extensive collection of project ideas, but we finally decided on implementing an intergenerational program that would bridge the local, Glen Ridge Cooperative community and the youth of Mansfield, Connecticut. I was extremely impressed and appreciative of Pat’s determination to find a placement for me at the bureau even though, it was not a previously established intern or volunteer position. I was eager to start launching the program, but as I started meeting with the staff at Glen Ridge to receive feedback on the idea and to iron out the details, I realized that the project was deviating away from what I had envisioned. From the onset of the meeting, it was evident that no two people agreed on what the goal of this intergenerational program was, how the residents would perceive the idea or how I would be incorporating the youth into their community. I believed that, with this program, I would have the opportunity to engage both members of the community and the town’s youth in activities ranging from a field day with games and sports to an oral history project. Pat, on the other hand, led the staff to believe that my intentions were to assist the secretary with the community’s monthly newspaper and newsletter. Despite my best efforts to assuage the staff’s hesitation of having an outsider unnecessarily collaborate on the publications by stressing that, that by no means …show more content…
As of right now, we have two amazing high school seniors interviewing residents in their homes. It has been left up to the interviewee what they wish to discuss and, out of the five interviews that have been completed thus far, there has been no two stories that have been alike. One woman discussed the adoption of her daughter who was a different race then she while another discussed her time travelling the nation, including the time she spent living in Alaska with her family. While I am usually unable to be present at the interviews due to conflicting work and class schedules, I have had the opportunity to listen to the voice-recorded interviews as I am transcribing them. While I am facilitating most of the project from behind the scenes, Pat and I have discussed the opportunity for me to perform an interview on my own so that I can gain the same communication experiences that these two students are. Looking back, I am thankful that I did not settle for Pat’s original offer to assist with the newsletter and the newspaper because, if I had done so, I would not have had the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing initiative that I helped to conceptualize and