What is LINK?
At Animas High School, all juniors have an opportunity to participate in a 3 week long internship experience. There is no limit with location or place, but COVID-19 did take a toll on the available options. This experience allows students to explore themselves and their interests. With school being "canceled" for three weeks it makes it so that we can be fully immersed in the job experience.
At Animas High School, all juniors have an opportunity to participate in a 3 week long internship experience. There is no limit with location or place, but COVID-19 did take a toll on the available options. This experience allows students to explore themselves and their interests. With school being "canceled" for three weeks it makes it so that we can be fully immersed in the job experience.
My LINK Experience:
I did my internship at 4 the Children, a small non-profit in Durango, Colorado. 4 The Children is the umbrella organization for the local Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program and the Supervised Exchange and Parenting Time program. The CASA program strives to provide advocacy and interaction with minors in court to break the cycle of neglect and abuse within families. The SEPT program is a service to families to promote healthy relationships by providing supervised exchanges and facilitated parenting time. I participated in exchanges as well as office work and brainstorming on business progression ideas. |
LINK Project:
During my time at 4 the Children I worked on making a resource guide for the clients which you can see here:
During my time at 4 the Children I worked on making a resource guide for the clients which you can see here:
The creation of this resource guide involved calling a variety of business and individuals and telling them who I was, what I was doing, and asking their permission for including them in the guide. There was a long process of eliminating certain people that didn't fit with our mission or our goal of the guide. This resource guide went through many different variations and the editing process was long. My goal was to leave them with something that they can give to their clients and also have the opportunity to change as needed.
Reflection on LINK:
When I began my internship I had no idea what to expect. I had talked to my internship counselor a bit about 4 the Children and what they do, but before that I had never heard of them or anything about their mission, let alone what I would be doing as their intern. My initial day was full of welcoming kindness and I felt no intimidation when asking questions and figuring out my way around. Even though I wasn’t sure where to step in, I felt as though I had confidence to put myself out there in useful and authentic ways. For example, when I first went in, my two main mentors sat me down and asked me some questions which it almost felt like an interview, but not one I necessarily felt prepared for. Although my reaction was a bit nervous, I soon realized that it was not a scary situation, but instead an opportunity to show them that I was ready, adaptable, and excited for the three weeks ahead. This skill of finding the balance between confidence, shyness, and boastfulness came to be quite useful on that first day and allowed me to give a good impression.
My mentor mentioned to me early on the possibility of creating a resource guide for them because they had needed one for a while and never got to it. Although I am not experienced in resource guides or anything of the sort, I was still able to pick out things that felt engaging so that I could stay motivated in my responsibilities. This was the main skill that I developed in my experience; adaptability in my engagement. When creating the resource guide I called different businesses and organizations to get their permission to include them. I was able to feel interested in this because one of my general skills and interests is talking to people. So, even though the actual act of writing the resource guide wasn’t the most inspiring and interesting thing I was still able to realize that there was much more to it that I could find to find my skills and interests. It felt as though I was learning to see the bright side of it and overall, I will continue to use this skill in more deliberate ways in the future.
With the challenges of doing work that I wasn’t very familiar with I had to find a way to ask the right questions and stay patient with myself and the tasks at hand. With the resource guide, I had to change it many times and continue to edit it over and over again with the more feedback that I was receiving on it. This was challenging at times and took a lot of patience. Another challenge was jumping into the CASA training. I had no expectations but was a bit nervous that I wouldn’t be able to understand or complete it. But, to my surprise I was actually quite interested in the legal side of the program and was able to stay engaged and enjoy it because of my willingness to be a bit uncomfortable.
I believe 4 the Children should continue to hire highschool interns because of our fresh and authentic perspective on certain matters. The other highschool intern and I at the facility both had experiences in our lives that made us empathetic to the situations that the families at 4 the Children were going through. This was important when finding passion for the work. All of the staff has a personal connection to the work that they are doing and that is what makes it so effective. The perspective I brought as a highschool student was valuable when trying to get a new look at something. For example, they are in the process of developing the Child Advocacy Center, or CAC and needed new ideas for the policies. It was helpful to have a viewpoint from a teen because they will be dealing with minors in that program. More than anything, interns bring a new eye to ongoing questions and obstacles which is essential for the progression of any program or business.
This internship experience has opened many new doors for me and fortunately, closed none. I have discovered a new interest of mine which is family law and the side of the minor in those situations. I was also exposed to a whole world of things I had never learned before, from the importance of supervised exchanges, to how to make professional phone calls. After this internship I may look more into the possibilities of law in my future which I probably wouldn't have done without this. I have most definitely gained the ability to feel more prepared to go out into the big world and jump into something unknown with confidence, integrity, and curiosity.
When I began my internship I had no idea what to expect. I had talked to my internship counselor a bit about 4 the Children and what they do, but before that I had never heard of them or anything about their mission, let alone what I would be doing as their intern. My initial day was full of welcoming kindness and I felt no intimidation when asking questions and figuring out my way around. Even though I wasn’t sure where to step in, I felt as though I had confidence to put myself out there in useful and authentic ways. For example, when I first went in, my two main mentors sat me down and asked me some questions which it almost felt like an interview, but not one I necessarily felt prepared for. Although my reaction was a bit nervous, I soon realized that it was not a scary situation, but instead an opportunity to show them that I was ready, adaptable, and excited for the three weeks ahead. This skill of finding the balance between confidence, shyness, and boastfulness came to be quite useful on that first day and allowed me to give a good impression.
My mentor mentioned to me early on the possibility of creating a resource guide for them because they had needed one for a while and never got to it. Although I am not experienced in resource guides or anything of the sort, I was still able to pick out things that felt engaging so that I could stay motivated in my responsibilities. This was the main skill that I developed in my experience; adaptability in my engagement. When creating the resource guide I called different businesses and organizations to get their permission to include them. I was able to feel interested in this because one of my general skills and interests is talking to people. So, even though the actual act of writing the resource guide wasn’t the most inspiring and interesting thing I was still able to realize that there was much more to it that I could find to find my skills and interests. It felt as though I was learning to see the bright side of it and overall, I will continue to use this skill in more deliberate ways in the future.
With the challenges of doing work that I wasn’t very familiar with I had to find a way to ask the right questions and stay patient with myself and the tasks at hand. With the resource guide, I had to change it many times and continue to edit it over and over again with the more feedback that I was receiving on it. This was challenging at times and took a lot of patience. Another challenge was jumping into the CASA training. I had no expectations but was a bit nervous that I wouldn’t be able to understand or complete it. But, to my surprise I was actually quite interested in the legal side of the program and was able to stay engaged and enjoy it because of my willingness to be a bit uncomfortable.
I believe 4 the Children should continue to hire highschool interns because of our fresh and authentic perspective on certain matters. The other highschool intern and I at the facility both had experiences in our lives that made us empathetic to the situations that the families at 4 the Children were going through. This was important when finding passion for the work. All of the staff has a personal connection to the work that they are doing and that is what makes it so effective. The perspective I brought as a highschool student was valuable when trying to get a new look at something. For example, they are in the process of developing the Child Advocacy Center, or CAC and needed new ideas for the policies. It was helpful to have a viewpoint from a teen because they will be dealing with minors in that program. More than anything, interns bring a new eye to ongoing questions and obstacles which is essential for the progression of any program or business.
This internship experience has opened many new doors for me and fortunately, closed none. I have discovered a new interest of mine which is family law and the side of the minor in those situations. I was also exposed to a whole world of things I had never learned before, from the importance of supervised exchanges, to how to make professional phone calls. After this internship I may look more into the possibilities of law in my future which I probably wouldn't have done without this. I have most definitely gained the ability to feel more prepared to go out into the big world and jump into something unknown with confidence, integrity, and curiosity.
My Resume: