As I wrap up my very first internship through Ogallala Commons, there are so many great things to look back on. In just three short months, I feel like I have accomplished so much. I was able to be a part of so many different activities this summer, and my eyes were opened to a number of new experiences. I have grown as an individual and developed many skills that I would not have without this summer internship.
Working for the church this summer, I was introduced to some jobs that I was familiar with and some that I was not. Swift Kicks, which is our town’s weekly news, was something that I had seen around town since it was started, so I knew about it and was excited to be able to work as a reporter and publisher, and it has been one of my most consistent jobs throughout the summer.
For the next couple of weeks I helped with our church’s Vacation Bible School. I did many different jobs to help out the ladies that were in charge. I made lyric videos for the dancing music, printed labels for the name tags and put them on each name tag, made a bible verse game, and created a periodic table of the bible.
Another time consuming job was the creation of a map of our community. One was made five years ago, but I was in charge of making a new and updated version. This took many hours and lots of investigation, but the final product is almost finished and I am very proud of how it turned out.
Over the course of the summer, some of my hours were built up taking care of a garden for our local food pantry for families in need. Darryl Birkenfeld and I planted the garden one evening and I helped water it whenever I could. Now, we are waiting for all of it to grow so that we can harvest it and continue to supply the food pantry with fresh grown vegetables.
One of my last jobs of the summer consisted of work in our church’s cemetery. I was given the job of capturing pictures of each grave stone front and back throughout the entire cemetery. I was excited about the job because it was a chance to do something different, and it was very interesting to see all of the different families that have been through Nazareth. I also liked seeing how old and historical our community was and how long it has been around.
Overall, my internship through Ogallala Commons this summer has made a tremendous impact on my life, my views, my knowledge, and my skills. I enjoyed working with my supervisor, Father Ken Keller, and I want to thank him and everyone else who gave me this opportunity.
