My word of the week is definitely hectic. We have been gearing up for Hope’s Door Annual Gala, so everything has to be done, and there is very little time to do it.

                Our gala is a night of dinner, dancing, and auctions. We auction off goods and trips to raise money for domestic violence services and preventative education. And  the auction is this week!

                This week, I have mainly been working on the gala, and other administrative things around the office. I went to get business cards, worked on the bidding materials for the gala’s silent auction, and finished the resource binder that I had been working on last week.

                Overall, it has been very exciting working on things for the gala. There is excitement in the air, and I can tell that the two women working on the project are both praying for more time, and hoping the day will come sooner. It is a joy to be able to help them, since I usually have very little to do at the office. Getting called every few minutes is a pleasure. Generally, I will be assigned a task for the whole day, or child care, but now I have a list of things to do, and chose to stay later so that I can get them all done before the gala.

                I have definitely learned to not rely on the slow feel of an office. I came into work thinking that I would be able to sit down and do my work like I usually do, but everyone is running around. I definitely was not expecting that. I guess that every day can be different when you work in a job like this. It is similar to what we were talking about in class last week. Every day is a different day, and it can bring about different struggles. You should not believe that each day will be the same, since so many different things can change.

                If anyone else is working here during the spring semester, I would say to ask the Gala coordinator if they need any help. Their job is so overwhelming, especially when it gets closer to the actual day of the event. Our coordinator, Lindsay, has been running around all week, so getting to help her is definitely beneficial for both of us. And you get to say that you helped out with such an amazing event like our gala.

                I would like to comment on Meghan Sweeny’s post from April 17^th. Like her, I have definitely had to think outside of the box. Though, I definitely agree that you have to ask questions and ask for help if you need it. Thankfully, my supervisors and the other people at the office have been genuinely nice and accepting, but I know that is not the case in other places. However, we are all there to do a job, and supervisors are there to help interns or new employees. It was great that she asked for help, and learned to think outside the box, especially when dealing with children.

            The word I would use to describe this week is definitely emotional. I believe that I have had the greatest highs and lows since I started here, and it is definitely strange that this will be coming to an end soon.

            This week, we have gotten an influx of children because of the holiday. In the past week, I have watched four children. I did not see that many in my first month here. So, most of my time has been dedicated to child care. At my job, that is either a curse or a blessing. So many of these children grew up in destructive households, and all of them respond differently. We have had a little boy that punched the other children, and we have had a girl that has to be emotionally prepared to walk away from someone she just met. The different reactions and personalities are incomparable, and something like this cannot be taught.

            In general, I have grown to enjoy spending time with some of the children that come in. Some come in regularly, and others will just show up, but most of the time, they are good sessions. I have gotten one girl, though, who truly touched my heart. She is three, and so sweet, but too attached and dependent. She was harmed by her father, and has burn scars up and down her arms. Now, though, she does not know physical boundaries, and will jump into the arms of a stranger. She clings to people, and is upset when she has to deviate from her normal routine.

 I would definitely say that this little girl was a mix of emotions for me. On one hand, she brought me immense waves of joy just watching her play. On the other hand, though, the pain she clearly went through makes it hard to watch her. I could never even think of hurting someone as small as that, but yet somebody did. It definitely was not her fault, but she is suffering the physical and emotional consequences of that.

This week, I also learned the feeling of success that comes when finishing a project. I was asked to create a binder of references and resources that the company uses for each woman that walks through our doors. For example, we have legal services, food pantries, and emergency hotlines. We had well over 50 companies, and I was asked to gather information on all of them, and put it in an organized binder. Three days and 100 pieces of paper later, I finally finished it. I definitely think that it looks professional, and will hopefully it will help our counselors when they are referring someone to another company. It was a large task, and halfway through, I started regarding it as busy work, almost as if it were not important. However, I realized that not all work has to be directly causing an impact on the company. Little things make a company run, and creating the binder was one of those little things.

If I were to give one piece of advice to another intern here, I would definitely say to talk to the children. They often have so few people in their lives to speak to, and most of their conversations with counselors will be about domestic violence. In their downtime, they are looking for a friend, not a counselor and not a babysitter. So many of these children are kind and sweet, so enjoy spending time with them. It is much better than doing busy work, and the children really appreciate it.

            This week, I would like to comment on Jessica Varkey’s post from April 9^th. I completely agree with her on the fact that these internships can definitely get boring. Right now, I am at my internship doing this journal because they do not have anything for me to do. I have already been here for an hour, and since my supervisor is out all week, I may not have anything to do for the whole day. I could work on some homework I have, but that definitely is not why I chose this internship. I am hoping that some busy work comes in soon, but it doesn’t even look like I’ll have a child today. I agree that some internships definitely get mundane and boring after a while. However, looking at her post from this week, it looks like her internship is getting more interesting, so maybe mine will, too!

My word of the week is impressed. For the first hour of my shift, I put away box after box of items that a local fundraiser donated to us. There were so many boxes of diapers and shampoo that we could barely fit them on the shelves of our storage closet. And everything was brand new, unopened, and in excellent condition. We are sending five boxes of items over to our shelter, and kept a few boxes for our clients here at the administrative office. The care that these people had was incredible! They are helping many, many women and children with these goods, and are taking a weight off of our shoulders here at the office. Since we try to buy as many things for these women as possible, that means we could put the money we would have spent to better use. It certainly is such a touching, eye-opening experience to see what just a little effort gives to someone else.

This week, I am very happy to say that we are done archiving files! We have been working on these files for weeks, and it is officially over. Of course, I now have a handful of other boxes to go through, but at least it’s not the client files. Those are packed up and ready to be shipped off to storage. It probably sounds strange, but I think my biggest success here at Hope’s Door will be when those boxes are moved out of our storage closet. We are constantly trying to clean the closet, but with thirty boxes stacked up against the wall, it is hard. As soon as we get those boxes out of the office, I can organize the closet and make an impact on this organization. Everything will not be a fruitless effort. We move boxes and file things away, but it has still all been there. Once we get the boxes in storage, I think I will feel accomplished.

A lesson that I learned this week is that a little bit can go a long way. All semester, I have seen small boxes of donations come in, often from people wanting to clean out their attics. This impact, though, will be amazing. In just one food drive, they raised enough supplies to keep the clients at our shelter happy, healthy, and clean.

When it comes to other interns, I would definitely tell them that all of their work is worth it. The past few weeks, I have felt like “the help.” I file paperwork and answer phones, but what is that really doing for the company? This week, though, I have realized that it does mean something. It means that someone will be able to pull an accurate file from our drawers in the case of an emergency. It means that everything is organized for when clients walk in. It means that other counselors can do their job without having to worry about giving the electrician directions. All of these things keep a company running, even though it doesn’t feel like that. I may not be counseling children left and right, but I certainly am learning about this field, and contributing at the same time.

This week, I would like to comment on Kaley Kowalick’s post from March 13^th. I cannot believe that she had enough patience to deal with that situation with Ethan, and to rethink it! I probably would have been repeating the same thing over and over, expecting different results each time. It is amazing that she was able to reassess the situation, and to get Ethan to cooperate with her. Maybe all it takes is a little patience and some understanding. It really was a great handing of a situation, and I definitely would not have done as well as she did.