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Blog 6: Summary of Experience

The three goals I outlined in my first blog were communication, leadership, and network building. I was able to achieve these goals while working at my internship this summer. Through talking to families and putting myself out there professionally I was able to make new connections.

While I was going through my internship I was trying to figure out what God was leading me to do with my life. I would job search every day and try to connect with as many people as I could. Darryl Birkenfeld was nice enough to help me job search and was able to give me another internship that I will finish in December. This next internship gives the opportunity to meet more people and try some new ways to work.

After a month of the job search I was offered a position as the Extension Program Assistant in Potter County. I am grateful for the work I did at the WIC office because it has given me more confidence and taught me to go after what I want.

My two bosses were wonderful and I now have friends for life because of the internship. I felt so welcome with them and learned a lot about the way WIC works. The WIC program helps families who are less fortunate to eat better and have healthy children. Learning about how that works was very interesting.

Some challenges I faced were seeing some families that were not appreciative of the free produce we were giving. I wish I could have asked what was so wrong in their life that something fresh and free wasn’t enough. I hoped that they knew hard work and trusting in god would get them through it but I knew I couldn’t say that to them. People are going through more than I can ever imagine so it was hard seeing that every day but also eye opening.

The orientation retreat that we attended before our internship started was fun and I was able to meet some really awesome people. The people that spoke to us was something I enjoyed and was encouraging to me. The orientation was a nice start to the summer.

After completing this internship I feel ready to start my career and conquer my fears of “adulting”. I thank everyone who was apart of my summer and I will always appreciate the relationships I made and the memories of it all.