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Reflection Paper

Erin Thomas

KINS 4306: The Bright House Internship

Dr. Kaninjing

Georgia College and State University

March 25, 2021

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Internship Reflection Paper

Introduction

My name is Erin Thomas, I am currently a senior public health major at Georgia College

& State University (GCSU) and an intern at The Bright House. After graduation in May, I will

be continuing my education by getting my Master of Science in Health and Human Performance

with a concentration in Health Promotion at GCSU. The organization, The Bright House, is a

division of the Southern Crescent Sexual Assault and Child Advocacy center. The Bright House

is a place that provides collaborative coordinated community responses in the effort to reduce

child maltreatment and sexual violence through prevention, education, and intervention.

Currently, The Bright House targets children, college students, and adults around the middle

Georgia area while providing a 24/7 crisis line and emergency services. The services provided

are trauma based counseling, advocacy for children, students, and adults, medical exams,

forensic interviews, and any form of emergency situations dealing with physical, emotional,

mental, domestic, and sexual abuse. The employees at The Bright House work directly with

detectives, police, DCFS, and CPS services to provide the best care for their patients each day.

The Bright House is an organization that is needed in the state of Georgia. As of 2014 for

Georgia, 70.3% suffered neglect, 25.9% suffered emotional abuse, 10.1% suffered physical

abuse, 4.3% suffered medical neglect, and 3.0% suffered sexual abuse (DFCS). For the older

populations, abuse of older and disabled adults (at-risk adults) is one of the most undetected and

underreported problems in the U.S. The abuse is typically intentional and can take place

anywhere at any time (Dept. Of Human Services). For college students, 13% of all students

experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation among all

graduate and undergraduate students (RAINN).

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For employment, currently there are three other interns besides me, four full time, and

one part time staff. All of the employees are women, which is very empowering as a current

intern who is a woman. For the interns, we all perform office duties such as answering the phone,

filing case work, answering the door for appointments, and sanitizing the office after each

appointment. We also play with the younger children during interview breaks and in the lobby

when the parents need help. The staff also lets us dress in non-business attire and be comfortable

around the office because the whole point is for the organization to be very home life and a safe

place for patients and employees. For the full time staff, first we have JoAnna Smith who is the

director and is the woman in charge of everyone at the office and is my supervisor. She handles

the emergency situations directly with the police, DCFS, and CPS while keeping everyone and

the office afloat. Ashley is the forensic interviewer and campus advocate. Ashley conducts all of

the forensic interviews and bases them off the situation, police, and how the child is emotionally

and mentally. She also handles the college students who need an advocate around the

Milledgeville area. Antionette is the counselor for The Bright House. She provides these services

to all ages, families, and even does Telehealth (online counseling services) over the computer.

Shelley is the front office advocate and handles everything and everyone first. She is the first

face anyone sees when coming to The Bright House and is the backbone of the organization.

Lastly, Katie is the part time Nurse Practitioner. She does the medical exams which consists of

taking pictures of the victims body for signs of abuse, STI testing, and is a liaison with other

providers in the middle Georgia area in case there needs to be more health exams and treatment

for the patient. Overall for the staff, everyone has welcomed the interns with open arms, and

treats us just how they treat each other. The way they take care of us and treat us as interns is one

of my favorite traits about the women that work here.

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Description of Experiences

Interning at The Bright House has definitely been a different experience from what I am

used to. I’ve always had extremely busy, non-stop, and hands on work experiences growing up

but here we sit around most of the time completing online trainings and school work while

waiting for our supervisor to give us work to do or for appointments to come in. My favorite

times include morning meetings because we are serious when going over cases for the day, but

we always take time at the end to catch up and laugh together. This always makes me feel

included and brightens my mood when I come in feeling unmotivated and like I will have a bad

day. When we have more work and appointments that preoccupy us as interns, all of our moods

improve drastically because we want everyone here to be proud of us for doing such a good job

in the customer service aspect of the internship. We perform a lot of office duties, and I realized I

love to be busy with sorting and filing because I know I can do it quickly and correctly. I like

case filing the most, but it can be sad to see how many cases per week, month, and year come in

to The Bright House. I also do not mind doing the “dirty work” here either. I love to clean and

sanitize the lobby, interview and medical room, and bathrooms after appointments. I always have

been taught that having a clean space improves moods and it shows profession, but I also love to

clean so it is never a burden to me. The hardest part of the internship is managing the children

when their parents are in counseling. We will have multiple children to watch at once, and they

tend to act out when their parent(s) isn’t around. I’ve come to realize through the children that

patience is a virtue, and that if I can get to their level and hear them out, then they tend to want to

listen to me. The children keep me on my toes which is always a plus, especially the little social

butterflies that love to run around and are always smiling. For an overall experience, it is

something that is definitely out of my comfort zone because I have experience in more hospital
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style settings but I am glad I’m getting experience I never thought I’d have. I could not be more

grateful for the opportunity.

Perception and Evaluation

My internship met most of my expectations, especially on learning more and different

topics every day. This was due to the trainings throughout the semester we got to complete on

mandated reporting, human trafficking, cultural competency, elder abuse, child negligence, and

so much more. We also learned how emergency response protocol is carried out if there are

situations where a child is in immediate danger and/or needs to be seen as soon as possible. For

hours and time off, our supervisor is also very flexible with our schedules, and if we have to miss

she gives us trainings to do to keep us on track so we do not fall behind. She also constantly

reminds us to make sure we are meeting expectations on our hours for our internship, which we

all need to be reminded about sometimes. Early in the semester when I was pitching ideas for our

internship project, I mentioned campus implementation. I knew I had been fully heard and would

be given free will to take the project on any way I see fit when my supervisor immediately liked

the idea I had. I always keep my supervisor in the know on project updates, and she even wants

to table on campus with us which is going to be so fun and an opportunity for her to see what the

students are like. On office supervision, it is as normal as any other job I’ve had where they trust

me to keep up with the work I am given. I think the supervision is laid back because my

supervisor knows we are very capable of handling anything she needs us to do throughout the

day. For improvement of my experience, it is not something I can truly control. I only wish there

was more to do but that has to do with the flow of clients/patients that come in for appointments

and interviews. For a public health setting overall, if anyone was interested in advocacy I would

recommend this internship because it is great experience for advocacy and victim assistance.
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Internship Preparedness

For my placement at The Bright House, I was not truly academically prepared because

victim assistance and advocacy was not truly covered in my classes in deep detail. I had to

personally learn the processes of victim assistance through the trainings I had to complete to be

able to work with the people who come here for medicals, interviews, and counseling. I was not

totally confident in myself for the first few weeks of the internship because I did not feel

adequately prepared, but now I know I am and I can always ask the staff questions and they will

answer them for me. The courses that have helped me the most overall were cultural

competency, mandate reporting, and signs of the different forms of abuse. These specific

trainings are ones that I can use the skills learned to know the signs in and out of the office. For

GCSU and the School of Health and Human Performance, I personally believe teachers should

go over roles and jobs of advocates and what they do because I did not know this was an

internship or job option I could have and thrive in. Personally, I know many students would want

to know about this because it deals with populations such as children which some students love

to work with. I think it is really important for students to know all of the aspects of careers in

public health and I would have loved to cover information about this in class.

Internship Performance

I definitely increased my knowledge overall on advocacy, mandated reporting, forms of

abuse, and negligence in public health. We truly do not cover this side of public health in school,

and it is something extremely prevalent in the nation and it needs to be addressed. I loved

learning more and more about these topics the longer my internship goes on and the more

trainings I get to do. For deadlines expected of me, I have truly never missed a deadline and I do

not think that the ones asked of the interns and I are out of reach. I have pushed myself in these
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assignments to go above, beyond, and start earlier than what is expected of me. I truly believe I

manage my time effectively, I openly communicate, and I lead myself in the way I see fit. One

thing I can do better is let others take the position of the leader sometimes, because I can be

overbearing with that. I love to lead because I know I can push myself and others to meet goals I

expect from myself and a group as a whole.

Personal, Professional Insight, and Benefits

The internship with The Bright House has been a wonderful and different experience than

I would have imaged. I’ve realized that each day is completely different from the one before so it

needs to be taken by stride. I have gained so many new skills on different topics due to all of the

trainings I get to complete, and the people and children I work with each day. I have learned

emergency management on child abuse, protocols, how medical exams work, and more that I am

so thankful for. We also have seen have The Bright House makes connections with other

organizations in the community, and how they do an open house to involve the community. I’ve

realized quickly since day one that this organization is here to serve the community with

prevention, intervention, and educational services since it is something needed in the area of

middle Georgia. The Bright House overall has definitely made a positive impact on children,

students, adults, and elders.

For school, I do not think interning at The Bright House has immensely impacted my

academics but I am doing extremely well which is normal because I love school and doing things

constantly to keep myself busy. Anything having to do with hard work and experience in my

field of study that counts towards class is something I will put my best foot forward in. For my

long term career goals, I’m not sure if there was a positive or negative impact for my future

career. I’ve realized that this is personally not the job or setting for me because I do not see
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myself doing this long term, especially with my Master of Science through GCSU. This type of

job setting typically requires a degree in social work since children are being handled mostly,

and the advocates directly work with DCFS and CPS. This experience also has not helped me in

my search for jobs, but I’m hoping when I graduate that will completely change. Overall, I know

this experience will stand out in my search for a future career and I’m thankful I got to have this

experience. I’ve met so many new people that will always be a connection in life and the field of

public health and I could not be more thankful.

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References

1. Department of Human Services: Division of Aging Services. (n.d.). Abuse, Neglect, and
Exploitation of At-Risk Adults in Georgia. Georgia.gov. https://aging.georgia.gov/report-
elder-abuse/abuse-neglect-and-exploitation-risk-adults-georgia 
2. Georgia Division of Family and Children Services. (n.d.). Child Abuse and Neglect
Prevention Fact Sheet. dfcs.georgia.gov.
https://dfcs.georgia.gov/sites/dfcs.georgia.gov/files/Child%20Abuse%20and%20Neglect
%20Fact%20Sheet%20Final.pdf
3. RAINN. (n.d.). Campus Sexual Violence: Statistics. Rainn.org.
https://www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence#:~:text=13%25%20of%20all
%20students%20experience,all%20graduate%20and%20undergraduate%20students