I am very excited to begin my internship at the Community Care Development Network (CCDN) tomorrow morning. I believe I am most excited about connecting with individuals across Birmingham, as Covid-19 has made it very difficult to meet new people. While this is my first Jan Term, I’ve been told it can be a quiet and somewhat lonely time on campus. Although my internship is virtual, I am still thankful that it will allow me to connect with new individuals. While I am excited to begin working, I am somewhat nervous about navigating the CCDN database and correctly entering new information from incoming assistance requests. I haven’t been given too many details about what I will be doing but expect to find out more during our orientation tomorrow. I hope to be much more confident and less nervous after receiving training. Looking on more of the bright side, I expect to be especially good at communicating with clients as I think I have good people skills and a welcoming personality.
Through this internship, I hope to get a taste of what it is like to work in the social work field. I am a psychology major and hope to receive a doctorate in clinical psychology one day. However, I know social work is also a growing field and only requires a master’s degree. I would love to learn if social work could be a good option for me during this internship.
By taking this class, I hope to learn ways in which I can make small changes in our world. 2020 was a scary year for our country, and there were many times I felt like there was nothing I, as an individual, could do to make things better. It can be hard to know where to start when addressing major problems in society such as widespread poverty or social injustice. By working with the CCDN founder and director, Tamika Holmes, I hope to hear her story and learn how she created a grassroots organization after noticing problems in her own community. At the end of this month, I hope to be more aware of the obstacles many impoverished people face in daily life. I hope to better recognize my privilege as a white, upper-middle class female with parents who can help fund my education. Finally, I hope this month turns me into a more compassionate individual who recognizes that I rarely know anyone’s fully story.