The past week or so has been all about the art of Internships. After my first internship prospect for my senior year-long internship at the Lund Family Center fell through, I was a little at a loss for what to do next. Fortunately, Tarn (one of the Social Work faculty at Champlain) contacted me telling me she had a contact at the Arbors at Shelburne and that she thought this woman would be an awesome supervisor for me.
Soooo...I immediately e-mailed Tara (my potential future supervisor at the Arbors,) and asked to set up an interview and a tour. A little background info on the Arbors: it is essentially a retirement home that includes a respite program, as well as an Alzheimer's and dementia population. Last Friday 6/10, I went out for my interview. I was considerably nervous because all interviews can be a little scary. But Tara was very welcoming and accommodating, and we had a great conversation about what I could do to help out at the Arbors (AKA my internship duties). After the successful interview portion, I was taken on a tour through the facility and got to meet some of the other staff and residents. Tara told me she would love to have me on as an intern, and BAM! Internship!
At first I was a little skeptical about working with the elderly because I had had a bad experience volunteering in a nursing home when I was doing volunteer work when I was 14 years old. But, I attempted (and am still attempting) to keep an open mind about this. After the tour I became very excited because it feels like Tara is going to be an awesome supervisor for me, and the community just feels much more inclusive than my first experience working with the elderly. This is going to be such a great opportunity for me. I'm hoping that I find I have a passion for working with the elderly, and that this will prove to be an experience that points me in a career direction I'm meant to work in. (I am currently picturing Pocahontas with John Smith's compass and the arrow in her heart pointing her in the direction she needs to go.)
Not only am I excited about possibly finding a population I'm passionate about working with, but I'm excited about the job security that will come with this particular population. As we all know, the baby boomers are all finally reaching retirement age. Over the next 20 years (at least) there is going to be a great need for people in social services to work with and for the elder population. This means there will be a promising start to my career and a great kickoff to the first 20 years of my professional career. Whoo hoo!
My second bit of news relating to internships is that I have been accepted to be an Intern Queen Campus Ambassador for Champlain College! If you have never been to the Intern Queen, Inc. website, click the giant link at the top of this posting. Lauren Berger started this site to help students get internships. Her website has a special system to help potential interns connect with potential employers. The Campus Ambassadors represent their respective colleges and universities, and help connect the students at these educational institutions to InternQueen.com and ultimately to a future internship!
I am what looks like the first Campus Ambassador for any college/university in the state of Vermont, and consequently, there are very few internships posted for VT. I'm hoping to change that. Also, the population of social services/humanities students and potential employers seems to also be pretty bleak. Again, I hope to work on changing this and to get Vermont more interested and invested in InternQueen.com and Lauren Berger's mission. I think the concept is absolutely great, and I'm honored to represent this company!
All in all, my professional life is looking up again. I have successfully secured an internship for my senior year, and it's will a supervisor who I think will meet all of my needs easily. (I like someone who is approachable and generally accessible in case I have questions or in case an emergency arises.) I hope I will prove to be an awesome addition to the Arbor's team, and that I find I really do have a true passion in working with the elder population.
Everything in good time.
SO-if you're looking for an internship of sorts, please feel free to contact me! I currently have the inside scoop. :)
XOXO
~Megan
