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KINS 4306 Internship Spring 2021

Reflection Paper on Internship

Brayden Royer

Georgia College & State University

April 10th, 2021

Introduction:
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My name is Brayden Royer and I am interning this spring at the Life Enrichment Center.

The LEC is a non-profit organization used to educate and help those people with developmental

disabilities. Some examples of disabilities that they have are autism, cerebral palsy,

schizophrenia, dandy walker syndrome, and many others. Throughout this semester there has

been about 9-10 guys and about 20 girls at the LEC. This organization has been here for over 20

years and is more of a family than a business. The staff there have been very helpful and

important to the LEC. There are 2 staff for the guys side and about 3-4 staff for the girls side.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions the guys and girls have been separated and we strive to get them

active as much as possible. Throughout this semester, I have been given the opportunity to

educate the clients on multiple different things such as promoting their physical health, nutrition

health, emotional health and mental health. The purpose is to make an impact onto their lives as

they implement what they have learned to their everyday lives.

Description of Experiences:

My role at the Life Enrichment Center was to help educate them on ways to improve on

their overall health and also create multiple projects to help them improve on their thinking

skills, mobility, speech, and many others. When it comes to their overall health, I have worked

on improving their physical, nutritional, emotional, and mental health on an everyday basis. I

come in the mornings to aid them in activities that go on throughout the day. The activities can

vary from arts and crafts, music, outdoor activities, photography, and many other activities. I will

host certain activities such as therapeutic drumming, social hour, brain games, music, and many

other activities depending on the day of the week. There will also be times I will go on a field

trip with either the girls or the guys ranging from going to Lockerly, Walter B. Williams, Huely

park, and some other places. The guys will tend to go to places more than the girls because they
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have a smaller group and most of the places they go to revolves gardening, fishing, and any

outdoor masculine activities. When it comes to my internship there have been many parts that I

found the best and most challenging. One thing I found being the best part about the LEC would

be making these mini projects for all of them. Some projects that I have built and created would

be corn hole boards, checker board, gardening tools, and some other projects. Making these

things has definitely been rewarding because I have put in the effort to help make things that

they would enjoy and want to continue using when im done with my internship. Every time I

have played the games with the guys and girls, they have enjoyed it the most. They always show

me a big smile and laughter which makes me very happy and rewarding. Another thing I feel has

been the best is just being able to make an impact onto their lives. Throughout these 12 weeks so

far I have felt like I have made an impact. Whenever I come into the building and see them, they

always say hey with so much enthusiasm and happiness that it makes me happy inside. The fact

that I have the opportunity to educate and help people with developmental disabilities has

definitely been one of the most amazing things I have done throughout my college career.

Although that has been some of the best parts about my internship, there has definitely been

some challenges. One challenge I have discovered about them would be their behavior can

change depending on the day. There has been times that they can get hostile or become angry

and use their hands or voices to express how they feel. There has been times that another intern

and I would have to escort someone outside to their car so that they get their safely without

escaping or using violence. Another challenge I have encountered is having patience. There are

times it can be challenging to ask them questions or get them to do something due to their

disability, so there are times I would need to be patient for them, but I know it is rewarding once

they do the activity to answer the questions. Although it can be challenging sometimes, I feel like
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it is definitely educational and impactful. When it comes to my internship, there are some things

I would have wanted to do more of. One thing I would have wanted to do more of would be

taking them to more places and getting them outside to get more exercise. Since COVID has

made an impact onto many lives, it has been difficult at times to get them outside since some

people are online. We have done a better job in getting them active because sitting and staring at

a screen all day isn’t healthy and we strive to improve their health in every way possible. This

experience has definitely been amazing and for the rest of the semester, I hope to continue

helping them with their needs and increase their activity at the LEC.

Perception and Evaluation of the Internship:

When it comes to my internship I felt like it definitely met my personal expectations. I

feel this way because it has made me grow as a person for the better. My expectations from the

LEC was to grow in my communication skills and learn more about people with developmental

disabilities. I feel like I have improved a lot when it comes to my communication and leadership

skills and I have learned so much about the lifestyle of people with disabilities. This internship

has shifted my interests from doing medical sales to anything with people with disabilities. When

it comes to the organization itself, I felt like they were definitely open to my ideas and

contributions because Barbara Coleman, the boss and supervisor at the LEC told us at the

beginning of the internship that our ideas and contributions were very open and its important that

we are visionary throughout the semester. She encouraged us to use our creativity and implement

it in any positive way possible. When it comes to the supervision at the LEC, I felt like it was

very effective because we were with staff every minute of the day and we would get advice and

criticism on what we do throughout the day. There were enough staff each day to watch them

and to also receive our own ideas and plans. Every morning we would have 2 staff come take our
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temperature and make sure that we sign in and wash our hands before we go see everyone.

Everyone has been doing a great job in making sure everyone is safe and healthy. If there was

one thing that my experience at my internship could have improved, it would be to give us more

opportunities outside of the internship. I feel this way because we have done some events on the

weekends but there weren’t enough events for us to help raise money for the LEC or help make

improvements at the internship site. There are a lot of things that need to be worked on at the

LEC but we won’t have enough time to complete them all. The things that we don’t complete

will be for the future interns and I feel like they would definitely complete it and have a great

experience. I would definitely recommend the LEC for future interns because it is a great

experience especially being in a setting that you normally wouldn’t be in and just being able to

make an impact onto their lives in the best way possible. They would be able to create a lot of

amazing things there that will be very beneficial for the LEC. When it comes to my future, I

definitely will be looking for a job in this setting because I highly enjoy it and I feel like we need

more people who has the passion and drive for this type of jobs. It is very important that we help

them grow and improve on their health. Everyone needs to realize that they are the same as us

and need to be treated the same.

Internship Preparedness:

Based on my academics, I felt like I was prepared for this internship based on my

placement. When it comes to my public health courses, I felt like Health promotion program

planning, Community health, and Environmental health helped me become very prepared for this

internship. These courses have helped me understand how it is at the LEC and be able to

implement the information from those courses to help make an impact onto the organization. For

example; Health promotion program planning has helped me a lot because this internship
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requires a lot of planning and finding ways to make a positive change into their lives. I plan a lot

of activities to do each day and make sure that they learn something throughout the week. The

area I felt I was least prepared would be the Epidemiology side. COVID-19 has been an

interesting pandemic for over a year now and it’s been difficult to find ways to prevent the

disease from coming to the LEC. It has been difficult because we have had to shut down twice

now due to positive cases and there has not been an improvement yet in preventing the cases

from appearing at the LEC. We have been tested multiple times because of the outbreaks but all

we hope is that no one gets sick or gets COVID. Other than the pandemic being stressful and

frustrating, the LEC has been great in helping them with their health. When it comes to GCSU

and the School of Health and Human Performances, I feel like they can do better is some things

for real life application of public health and for future employment. Although the vaccine has

been created and there have been less cases of COVID throughout the year, I feel like they still

need to teach students about importance of the current situations and show them better ways to

help make an impact onto themselves and onto others. For example, although I took

Epidemiology, I felt like I could not really help in the best possible way I could because I wasn’t

really educated on COVID-19 and ways I can make an impact for the community. Providing

those additional courses or events to educate them on current events will definitely help for the

future.

Internship Performances:

When it comes to my internship, I feel like I have acquired some new skills and

knowledge. One skill that I have learned is getting the right wood and learning how to cut and

measure it. I have done a lot of cutting and measurements in order to make things like the corn

hole boards so I can implement it in the future. We have made a lot of projects and I feel great
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about that. Some knowledge I have learned from the LEC would be how to adjust and react to

situations and how to help in the best way possible. There are times that they will try to start an

argument or have a mental breakdown, so we have learned how we can help them through those

issues and make sure everyone is feeling happy and relieved. Based my performances on

assignments, projects, and presentations, I felt like I have been satisfied with it. I have worked

very hard at my internship and my courses and feel like I have done a great job. If I could rate

my overall quality of work, I would say a 8 out of 10. It can be difficult some times to keep that

same energy each day because it can be draining, but I feel like I have a done a good job at my

internship. I feel like I have been the leader out of the other interns and have done really well in

communication. Some skills that I feel like I need to sharpen or develop to be as successful after

graduation would be being organized and getting work done in the best way possible. I would

say I’m very organized but I would need to be more organized when it comes to specific careers.

Planning or creating activities would be something I need to work on. I do struggle to make

activities at the LEC, so I hope to do better at that for the future. If there was one thing I would

want to develop for the future would be being more confident and professional when it comes to

conversations on the phone or in person. Talking to people with confidence definitely helps with

your future jobs and I hope to grow in that area. I know I have a lot of work to do but I know I

will achieve my goals and get the job I want.

Personal/Professional Insights/Benefits:

Based on my overall experience from the LEC, I have felt like it has made a great impact

on me. I feel like I learned so much as a person and from other and I will be implementing what I

have learned for my future career. The Life Enrichment Center has made me become more

organized and confident in myself and helped me find a positive path to take. I feel more
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confident in myself when it comes to communication and implantation and im excited for what is

in store for me. Some insights that I have gained regarding the LEC and population is that this

organization is a family. Each and every staff shows how much they care and they aren’t

working there for the money. Everyone shows love and support for each individual there and

there is never a day that they leave mad or annoyed. Since this is a non profit organization, they

all work as hard as they can to help provide as much help as possible and finding ways to make

an impact onto their lives inside and outside of the LEC. This internship has shown me how

grateful life is and how everyone deserves positivity and love. A lot of the people with

developmental disabilities live in caring homes or by themselves so they don’t have the proper

support and care, so we all strive to help them in every way possible. This internship has opened

my eyes a lot on how life is in Milledgeville and other places and makes me want to make a

change onto not only their lives but on others in Georgia. I am blessed I was able to intern at the

Life Enrichment Center and I hope I get to see everyone again after I graduate.