Week Two Journal Entry

Jennifer White

AHS 8100 Guided Practicum in Administration of Human Services

Dr. Shavonne Brathwaite

Wilmington University
 This week was quite a hectic week. Granite Farms Estates (GFE) is undergoing major

construction. There are five buildings: Aspen, Beech, Cedar, Dogwood and Elm. The Elm

building was cleared out about two years ago to begin renovations. The renovations included

moving and upgrading the assisted living portion of the building to the first and second floor of

the elm building. In addition to the new assisted living, twenty new luxury independent units are

being built on the third and fourth floor of the building. Elmer Heiland, the Executive Director,

wanted to give current residents at GFE the opportunity to see part of the new building before

prospective residents. Due to the fact that building is not completed, he coordinated with the

contractor in charge of the project to arrange tours for current residents who reside at GFE. He

decided last week that tours would held from Monday, January 16 to Friday, January 20. Tours

were held in thirty minute increments with the first tour at 3:00pm and the last at 4:30pm. Tours

were given in groups of ten.

On Monday, I accompanied Elmer on all four tours to listen to his delivery and to learn

the information that was being provided to the residents. It was good for me not only for work

but also for this internship as it also taught me about sales and marketing. Whenever our sales

and marketing individuals, also known as life care consultants (LCCs), they tour prospective

residents through the building while also bringing attention to the popular areas such as the

pool, clubhouses and fireplace lounge.

Elmer toured the third floor of the elm building as that was what the contractors were

comfortable with in regard to resident safety. Elmer toured residents through the clubhouse,

country kitchen and three different apartment models. He highlighted different aspects of the

building such as the heating of the building, the mechanics of the country kitchen such as the
dumbwaiters, the various uses for spare rooms in the apartments and even highlighted the

direction in which the sun sets in the largest apartment.

I learned that I was not meant to be in sales and marketing. Elmer did two days of tours

so I could get used to the script and gain an understating of answers for the most frequently

asked questions. When it came time for me fly solo I learned how difficult it can be to retain all

of the information necessary and to regurgitate it in a way that was understandable to residents. I

did not feel confident at all in myself and was constantly stressed. This made me realize that I

need to work on my confidence in order to be a successful leader and in order to make a sale

convincing.

This week I also learned observed Elmer as he dealt with an unemployment case with an

employee who was terminated in October due to unwarranted entry into a resident apartment and

theft. This environmental services staff member had managed to get hold of a master key and

entered an apartment that was not on list for cleaning. When he entered the apartment, the

resident was startled and immediately called security and the front desk. After investigation, the

master key was found on his personal key ring and it matched the locks of resident rooms who

had reported theft. This employee filed for unemployment which meant he was contesting his

termination and that meant Elmer would need to go to the hearing. On Thursday, the day of the

hearing, Elmer explained the process. He explained that he would be present and so would the

former employee, along with a mediator who would hear both sides of information and decision

regarding employment would be made. Elmer told me that he would be prepared with

documentation that included the statement written by the resident, documentation of apartments

that reported theft and had a lock that matched the master key, and copies of policies that had

been signed by the employee regarding confidentiality, abuse and behavior that would not be
tolerated by employees as stated in the employee handbook. This again made me question my

confidence as the tours did. I learned that I would need to feel confident about the information I

would need to present whether it be in the tour and in the hearing. In order to be confident, I

need to believe in myself and know that I am smart enough to understand and present the

information. This also had a correlation to my analysis in week one regarding conflict. I would

be nervous to have to sit in a hearing and discuss this past employee and theft. This was a good

lesson though as conflict can be inevitable as a leader.

Overall, this week was much busier than week one in regard to my internship. It was also

more hands on than week one. It taught me that in order for anyone to believe and buy my

confidence that I need to believe in myself. This week was overwhelming as I was expected to

complete a task that was outside of my comfort zone and challenged me to push myself. I am

looking forward to building my confidence as the semester continues.