E-Term 2021: Internships in Community and Social Change

Going into this internship I am incredibly excited! I have had an internship before with Girls Inc. in town but it wasn’t very formal, and while I loved it, I don’t believe I learned much about myself or made connections that I was hoping to make. This one feels vastly different. I think I am most nervous about actually contacting the various organizations that I need to contact. Because of my anxiety I am often really bad at phone conversations initially. However, once I get into the swing of things I should be able to overcome that for the month. I am really hoping to learn more about the social justice movement going on in this city. So many people often assume that the deep south, often using Alabama as an example, is incredibly backwards in terms of fighting for social justice. While there is obviously some truth to that, I believe that they are severely underestimating the work that is being done in places like Birmingham. I am hoping to make some great connections with some organizations like First Light and the Magic City Acceptance center. By the end of the month, I want to be really proud of the hard work that I have done for UUCBham. This past semester was difficult and I often was not proud of much of the work I did, so I want to be immensely proud of the work that I am submitting to my supervisor. 

I am so excited to intern at CCDN once again. I interned with them for the fall semester and it was interesting to learn how the employees help the people in the community. I knew that whatever my career was going to be, it had to involve helping others. Being a social work intern will help me see if I have what it takes to be success in this career or if I like it.

When I interned with them fall semester, I had to call clients to get information for their file. One thing I think I was good at was making up a script to follow whenever I called a client to be professional. I also think I made the clients feel comfortable with me to be able to share personal information over the phone. Being a Social Work Intern, you will get personal with your clients so it is important to make the feel like the trust you during your first conversation with them.

When I called clients, sometimes I felt as if I was not all the way prepared for certain questions that they asked. I think it is important to be prepared to ask any questions when you have a job so that the clients will be able to be confident in you instead of feeling like you do not know what you are doing. I also would like to learn where everything is in the database and know what organizations help to get certain resources. I want to be able to know these organizations the top of my head so I can let the client know who I will contact to help them get the resource they need.

I believe that I am interning here so I can really understand what it takes and what social workers go through to help people. I think of it as a test to see if I have what it takes or not. I believe that I do because I have a passion for helping others. I want to be able to see people change their life or be a part of that change because that will bring me joy. Being a part of this organization will also be a humbling experience. You realize that everyone does not have the same luxuries as you do. We all know this, but hearing what people are going through can really humble you and make you be thankful for what you have.

The things that I would like to learn about myself is if I am meant to have a career in social work. All I want to know is if I have what it takes to be a social work. Since I was interning here fall semester, I realized that being in the real world is scary; especially during a pandemic. People need help and being a part of an organization that helps their community get the resources they need makes me happy. When the internship is over, I should know if I have what it takes to be a social worker. 

Heading into this internship, I am feeling a mix of emotions. I am excited about this internship, as I think it will push me to think deeper as it forces me to take on different perspectives. I am also excited going into this internship because I will be exploring topics that I know close to nothing about. While it is exciting to know that I will be gaining so much knowledge in this process, it is a bit nerve-wracking as it pushes me out of my comfort zone. Furthermore, learning about my focus areas will undoubtedly expose systems that affect so many people daily that I did not even recognize exist because of the privilege my skin color gives me. I know that exposing myself to these systems could provoke shame within me, but my hope is to be able to transform this shame into accountability and find ways to move forward.

Throughout this month, I hope to engage with information that I will take with me for the rest of my life and use this knowledge for good. Moreover, instead of dumping this information at the end of the month, I hope to find ways to incorporate it into my everyday life in the future. This may look like educating my peers, coming up with ideas to fight harmful systems, or something completely different. While I don’t expect to find solutions to questions people have been asking for decades, I do hope to commit myself to not giving up on them. Hopefully by the end of this month, I will gain more peace about not knowing the answers to all of the questions I raise and instead acknowledge the positive growth that comes out of this month. 

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.  

I know that the task of applying for grants will be quite challenging because the weight of whether they receive the grants or not is on me. However, I choose to stay optimistic because I think I'm very good at learning, so I'll definitely learn and quickly adapt to the application process. Also, communicating has always been very challenging for me, and part of the reason why I am here in the first place is hoping to further develop and strengthen my communication skills. I also specifically want to learn and expand my researching and problem solving skills. 

Furthermore, I hope that by listening to the stories of the people that the organization will be helping, I will be inspired and encouraged to step out of my comfort zone and talk to others whenever I am personally struggling. It's not only about ex-convicts or recovery from substance abuse. People have so many other issues they deal with but cannot openly talk about it because they are subject to judgment from the world. As a result they drown in their problems and some end up becoming victims of substance abuse. I applaud such organizations that strive to help such people. 

At the end of this month I hope to understand that there's still so much to learn. We may not always have solutions to everybody's problems, but being emotionally present and listening to them unbiased also brings a sense of comfort.

I am extremely excited about this internship. I am working with Highlands United Methodist Church, and their inclusionary ministries project. I have always been involved in the church, but it was a very different type of church. I love how inclusive Highlands is, and I am really excited that I have an opportunity to help a church that is this supportive and open.

A large part of my work with the church will be researched based, and working with social media. First, I truly enjoy researching different topics, so the fact that I get to do this for my internship is something I am really looking forward to. Compiling resources, working with different websites, and consolidating them into easy to understand formats is something that I have had to do at other jobs, so I have a lot of experience in this area.

I am also very excited for the social media aspect of the job. I work on social media part time currently, so having the chance to use what I have learned from one field and transfer it to another is something I am really looking forward to. We are using Facebook, which I do not have as much experience with, but I have worked with it enough to be able to figure out what I don’t already know. I can also ensure that the items being posted on the page are accessible, which is very important to me as a blind woman.

I will also be sitting in on the staff meetings at Highlands, which I am very interested to be a part of. I am a bit nervous for this aspect of the job, but that is mainly because I have not had the best experiences in churches. I think with more exposure, I will feel a lot more comfortable being involved in church affairs and relations.

I am interested to see how the Community Care Development Network works with people in the community to provide them with resources. I know that there are many organizations out there to help those that need it, but I am interested to see how many people actually use these resources. With that being said specifically which demographic of people lean towards using the services that CCDM provides.

When thinking about the actual internship, I am interested to see if I actually enjoy or can see myself doing something like this in the near future. I am considering a career in social work, but am still unsure about it because people always have something to say about it and how underpaid a career it is. This is something that stays in the back of my head when thinking about possible careers, but at the end of the day I tell myself money isn’t everything. I want to find something that I love to do and I hope that this internship will help make it clear for me. 

With that being said,  I am a bit nervous about using the software to update patient information because when you first look at it, it's very overwhelming. Many names and information all in one place, but I think the more I familiarize myself with how it works and the location of everything then I will be less nervous. I just don’t want to mess anything up, but we were given guides and explained how to work everything. 

I am hoping that by the end of the internship I will learn more in general about the process of how helping others looks like within organizations such as the Community Care Development Network. Such as what all is needed from these clients for them to receive the services. With partaking in this opportunity, I wish to expand my use of the Spanish language because when talking to our supervisor the other day, she mentioned that they have clients whose primary language is Spanish, and so me being a native speaker I am given the opportunity to put what I’ve learned to use. I want to put me knowing Spanish to good use, so I am excited to interact with these clients. I also want to get to know our supervisor, Tamika Holmes, better and learn from her. She has had many years of experience in this line on work, and anything that I am able to learn from her could be beneficial.

This E-term I have the honor of working with Reverend Henry Gibson, a pastor at Highlands United Methodist Church. I am really excited about getting to gain new experiences working with churches. I feel comfortable working in new environments and with our social media-based project. However, I do feel nervous about relaying information about the LGBTQIAP+ community to an older congregation on apps like Facebook and Zoom. Since I am only an ally, I've been gathering advice on the project from friends who are in the community, which has helped! I think I'll be great at creating graphics for our Open Table project and with the help of Rae, making everything accessible for all people and all generations. 

During my time working with this church, I hope to grow in my confidence in my calling. I hope to become a pastor in the Methodist church after college and seminary and the more experiences I have, the easier it is to define what I'm interested in. In addition to growing individually, I hope to gain more knowledge about the LGBTQIAP+ community. Including becoming the best ally I can be as a student, friend, sister, and as a minister. 

At the end of this month, I hope to have a firm understanding of how to best help the Methodist church continue welcoming the LGBTQIAP+ community in the most hospitable way possible.

I am both nervous and excited about starting my internship. Especially, because when doing social media, I am so used to it being in person. Since the facility is closed because they work with at-risk adults, I won’t be able to be emersed and present. Luckily, I was able to work hands-on with McCoy last year, so I can use that experience to help me make posts, and answer questions from donors. That’s one of the setbacks that I believe will be harder than usual. On the other hand, I am excited, because this internship will help prepare me for future jobs. I am most excited about making good content, so that McCoy will continue to thrive on donations as well as being able to still help their clients while they are at home. One of the things that I really want to learn, is how to make posts that really grab the audience’s attention. I think that important because you want people to relate to the message you want to get across. I also want to be able to develop my communication skills over the phone, and to be able to talk to people more comfortably. I also hope to learn how to perfect my time management skills, so that I don’t overwork myself. By the end of this month, I hope I’ll be able to make clear, precise content. 

I’m very excited about this internship because it involves research that I’m enthusiastic about and information that could be incredibly helpful for children right here in Birmingham. To know that this research might increase resources for special needs children or children that are struggling with learning development is beyond exciting. I’m the most nervous about working remotely and being able to accurately summarize the vast amount of research I will be doing. I think my psychology background and connections to special needs organizations such as the Exceptional Foundation where I have volunteered before will be very useful in my internship. Hopefully studying the resources available from the city school system will be beneficial in my own life someday when I have children that will need schooling. Many parents don’t have the time or energy to research the ins and outs of the school system and what programs/resources will be helpful for them. My biggest goal for this month is to get a feel for working for a business before I graduate. My summers have always consisted of soccer camp counseling so this is a great opportunity to give me a taste of what an office job might be like.