Good Critical Thinking About Nam

Internship Project

Internship Project
I took my internship program working with Girls Inc. DC (http://girlsincdc.org). The organization offers after school programs and it targets girls aged between the ages of 11 and 13. The girls attending Girls Inc. were volunteers who came from underserved communities and were in need of mentorship to navigate gender, social and economic challenges facing them. The main aim of the organization was to help the girls come out of the issues facing them in the society and become healthy well educated young women who were independent (Gray, 2009).

Training activities

During the internship program at the organization, I engaged in different activities and some of the things I did included providing special training to volunteers and girsl coming to the organization. Some of my roles included developing and implementing training for new and returning interns, volunteers, and mentors. On a day to day basis,, there were three different training session and each lasted and hour. During the one hour session, there were two sections where the first part was referred to as the ice breaker. This was the introduction part where the participants got to know each other. The second session was the role of a mentor in the lives of the participants. Here, they had to reflect back to the time when they were growing up and identify someone they can refer to as a mentor. Then they had to list some of the qualities they taught drew them to the mentor and made them goods mentors to them. The training also covered classroom discipline. Here, the main purpose was to instill discipline among the participants. Different aspects of discipline were in play here. One of them was creating an open line of communication between the girls and the mentors. This way trust could be developed between the two.
The other aspect of discipline was no use of the words ‘shut up’ as it demoralizes the girls; therefore, it is an important aspect of discipline to ensure that one always asks before doing anything. The training also focused on the need to participate and be energetic that prompted one to take initiatives that can create a positive change in the life of a girl. The other focus of the training was on the philosophy and history of girls inc. this meant that issues like why mentors were needed came up due to the philosophy by which the organization operated coupled with its history. The organization had helped many girls over the years from underprivileged and underserved backgrounds to explore and embrace education as a way to liberate themselves from the trappings of their surroundings. The mentors, therefore, had to fully embrace their roles and know what was expected from them and were not part of their roles. This entailed having full knowledge of what effective and ineffective mentor practices were and how to foster good communication with the girls. Some of the other services I provided during the internship program were developing Activity 1 & 2 that was used during the mentor-volunteer training. The activity one and two had different activities that had to be conducted during the program. I divided the training program into two to facilitate easier execution of the whole problem and to pave way for an understanding of each other before going to depths of the mentor program. The other services I offered were signing in roster, the POC roster and the Availability roster.

Main goals of the training

The main goal of the training was not only to provide mentorship programs to the girls. However, this was the main aim of the program and it focused on ensuring that the girls coming to the organization received all the help and mentorship they required. The main objectives of the organization and its mission are to equip girls from underserved backgrounds to overcome the main challenges facing them. The main dream and goal of the organization was ensuring that the girls grew up to be independent adults. Therefore, the main goal of the training was to change the lives of girls. In order to do this, there was need to prepare the mentors, the volunteers and every other participant to embrace their roles and do their best to create change in the society through the young girls (Gray, 2009). The other goal of the training was also to help one understand the roles of a mentor in the life of a mentee. It is common to find a person calling himself or herself a mentor, yet they do not fully understand what is expected of them. Therefore, the training focused on ensuring that each mentor fully understood their roles in the life of a mentee. The training divided the roles of a mentee into four different categories namely; academic tutoring, career exploration opportunities, provision of emotional support and last but not least providing them with social experiences.
The other thing I learnt was the importance of keeping a relationship alive. As a mentor, one needs to ensure that the mentee feels connected with him or her. You cannot offer emotional, education, social and career support to a young girl if she does not relate to what you do, say or think. Therefore, I learnt that it is vital that one needs to develop a relationship and keep it alive in order to pass across the support one is hoping to get across to the other person. In the field of human services, this is highly applicable. It is not just about one executing his or her duties (Reid & Schram, 2012). It is relationship that satisfies both the human services professional as well as the people he or she is helping. Therefore, it is important that both parties relate well in order to change the situation facing the. I realized that creating a relationship starts with trust; hence, it is vital that this becomes a priority in the field. From this I also learnt that having fun is one way that one can ensure that a relationship remains alive. In the case of the mentorship training, I learnt that in order to connect with the girls, one had to take on a fun approach at times and at other times use approaches that were a bit serious. However, having fun proved to be effective in helping build and maintain relationship. This means that there is always space to make mistakes, but learning from them is the main goal (Gopee, 2002)
The other thing I learnt from the whole program was that it is never effective for one to force goals to happen. When one is pressurized and is not seeing the results he or she expected, then they might want to force changes that will result in the achievement of the goals. However, I learnt during the training that this is never effective especially when one is dealing with human beings. It is important to do your role and then let nature take its course. In the case of the field of human services, this is something that can be applied. It is important to practice patience under all circumstances (Reid & Schram, 2012). Never forcing changes that may result in your desired goal is something I came to value during the training. The girls embraced changes at different paces and in the long-run the quality of what the training achieved was way greater than it would be if the girls were forced to embrace change. The effect is long-lasting and it will be difficult to uninstall the culture instilled through patience and trust. Therefore, I learnt that it does not always pay to take authoritative roles when one is in a position of initiating change. Relating well with others will eventually result in the desired goal.
The other thing I learnt during the training was the importance of listening to others and communicating well especially with people who have more experience than you. In my case, I discovered that it was quite helpful and made my life a whole lot easier to listen to the advice of the staff working in the facility. They have more experience in the field than I did and as they say experience is a good teacher. Therefore, by learning to take advice from them and occasionally ask questions in regards to the different roles I was playing, I got to execute my duties with fewer problems than I would possibly have done without their help. I discovered that in order to achieve the set goals, it is important to listen to other people, take advice into consideration and then make decisions based on the advice. This way, one will be well informed and can avoid small mistakes that could have been easily evaded. In the field of human services, there is no space for messing up (Reid & Schram, 2012). When dealing with human beings, it is always paramount to do everything right the first time. Making small mistakes can cost a lot, and this means that taking advice can help minimize these mistakes.

Conclusion

Working with Girls inc provided a good chance for me to learn many things that will help me in my field of work. Through the training program, I got a chance to interact with people and learn how to take different responsibilities. The internship program at the organization helped me change my view of how important the field of human services I at changing the lives of people (Gray, 2009). The organization deals with empowering girls with social, gender and economic issues to grow up to become independent women. Through the organizational philosophy and mission, several girls have a hope of a bright future despite their current issues. It gives them a chance to get what they want. As a mentor, one plays an important role in the life of the young girls going to the organization every day. One has the chance to build or destroy the life of these girls. Therefore taking the role of a mentorship seriously is vital in the success of these programs. In my case, I got to learn a lot from the whole experience. I now know the value of time management, good communication skills, trust and the effectiveness of good relationships in the lives of the girls. All these are vital parts of the human services profession. When working in the field, one needs to take all these aspects into consideration. They help create a lasting effect and solve most of the issues facing the society. It arises from the need of human services professional to initiate and implement change in their line of work. Therefore, by adhering to these aspects, I presume that I will have a smooth time in achieving my set goals and objectives.

References

Gray, M. J. (2009). Combining service and learning in higher education evaluation of the Learn
and Serve America Higher Education program. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Education.
Gopee, N. (2002). Demonstrating critical analysis in academic assignments. Nursing Standard,
16 (35) 45-52
Reid Mandell, B., & Schram, B. (2012). An Introduction to human services: Policy practice (8th
edition). Boston, MA: Pearson Education