Opportunity to assist women in learning about exercise opportunities
What I wish was different
More opportunities to provide exercise opportunities with the residents
Advice
Bring any and all new ideas!
Be the first to mark this as helpful
Summer Intern
June - August 2018 • Saint Paul, MN
What I liked
I loved working one-on-one with the residents at Sarah's. Sarah's is a holistic healing home for women who have been through significant trauma. All of these women were either refugees, asylees, or undocumented women who had very little access to resources. I loved getting to know my residents and their stories and I really enjoyed learning how to help them and directly impact their lives. My favorite moments were when a woman would get a job or a positive new update with an immigration case and the resulting celebrations we would partake in.. The direct and transformative relationships I had with my residents was what really made my internship so wonderful!
What I wish was different
One of my supervisors was quite unprofessional: culturally insensitive, trauma insensitive, and sometimes even verging on the line of being mentally and verbally abusive to the residents. It was very hard to navigate what I needed to do in this situation as I wanted to protect the residents, but she was my supervisor and I was just a "lowly intern."
Advice
Be sure to know the policies and regulations of your institution or organization-- know who you would need to talk to if you have problems with a supervisor or co-worker. Figure out in the beginning of your work experience what the policies and expectations are and how to navigate those resources such as Human Resources or remedial meeting with your supervisors. Learn early how to naviagte conflict resolution!
