Running head: Journals !

Journals 1, 2, 3

Shelby Knotts

Wilmington University

Guided Practicum in Human Services

AHS8100

Linda Payne

Instructor

August 30, 2017

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Week 1

I have chosen to complete my internship at the United Way of Delaware. To be honest I

did not know much about what United Way does or what population it serves, all I knew was that

it was a non-profit organization. My first day consisted of orientation and I have taken so much

from just those short five hours there. Compared to my two other internships that I have done

throughout my schooling, the United Way truly seems to value their interns/volunteers and treats

them just like an employee. It was definitely refreshing to start off with such a positive experi-

ence because I do want to take as much information that I can from them to better my education.

There were two other interns along with myself who are also from Wilmington University so we

were taken on a tour throughout the building and got to introduce ourselves to everyone who

worked there. What I enjoyed most was even though the higher up on the ranking scale that we

got, every one was very welcoming and excited to have us there.

To be successful Human Services administrator it is important for you to possess leader-

ship skills, have compassion, be organized, and be goal oriented. During the end of our orienta-

tion we were asked to write down three qualities about us that we feel we could bring to the ta-

ble. The qualities that I wrote were that I am empathic, hard working, and organized. This field

most definitely matches up to my personality, my values, and strengths which is why I am hope-

ful for my future. Of course there are attributes of mine that could be improved on which is

wanting to make everyone happy/having a hard time saying no and not always speaking up when

I know I should.

I want to improve on satisfying everyone because it cannot always happen unfortunately,

and I would rather start working on that now rather then when I am in the human services field. I
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feel the more you learn about yourself and know what holds you back is how you are able to

grow and expand what you already know. We never stop learning and I find myself saying that a

lot now because there are so many things that I have not experienced yet, that others have within

this field. We had several staff come in to our orientation yesterday that basically gave us some

information on their department and what they do for United Way. It was very informative and I

feel that I left that day taking in so much knowledge and it opened my eyes to what people actu-

ally struggle with on a daily basis.

Week 2

After my first day at United Way of Delaware I truly was not impressed. I had not been

given any projects to work on and was told in orientation that on our first day we would find out

which sector of United Way wed be working in, but that never happened. My supervisor said

that Alva would be coming over to meet me with some things to work on and come the next day

she did. I think what I did not appreciate is that we were asked to write down what we wanted to

learn a little more about at United Way and I wrote down their 2-1-1 program which is a calling

center that connects the community to resources. Since then I have not been talked to about it

and feel like it was just disregarded. I feel that as an intern it is my job to take in as much infor-

mation that I can but I do not like to feel like I was not heard.

Alva who is in marketing came to me with a few things to help her on last Tuesday. First,

I was given some information on a Thank You to our friends who donated for our 2017 cam-

paign, so I was able to make it my own and create something from scratch. I was happy that I

was trusted enough to be able to create something that marketing would be using. Then I looked
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up and compared prices on wristbands because they are very popular and are a great marketing

tool for United Way. I have to say that I will not be entering the administration side of things

when I do graduate because I want to be more involved with the geriatric population, however

gaining insight on the marketing side of things is interesting. I am hoping this week goes

smoothly and things start picking up a bit more because like I said, I want to get as much as I can

out of this internship.

Week 3

This week was a bit more successful than the past week when I did was not given much to do.

When I went in on Monday, I was given United Way of Delaware stickers to stick on bags and

then completed the rest of my day working on my learning contract. My supervisor, Jamee

Boone, actually graduated at Wilmington University with her masters in Administration of Hu-

man Services so she already had a copy of the learning contract, therefore I was able to get a

head start on it. I believe it was an older version so I had to condense my work into the new tem-

plate, but that was fine. I found the learning contract very helpful because it allowed me to see

what I need to work on still and what I can gain from this internship. I have done several intern-

ships throughout my schooling and I have taken something away from each of them. By writing

down my goals and what I hope to accomplish by December helps me zoom in on certain areas

whether it is a personal development, a transferrable skill, or career development.

I am looking forward to next week because I will be working with the assistant marketing

director who will show me a little more in depth of a program called Constant Contact. Although

I know this isnt what I would like to be doing once I graduate, I figure learning the behind the

scenes work in non-profit organizations can truly help me for when I start working with the geri-
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atric population. I truly believe that knowledge gained is never a waste so I am taking in as much

as I can throughout this internship experience.