Internship Reflection

My experience interning at Copperview Recreation Center has been wonderful. The first

few weeks where COVID-19 mandates were still in place were completed online. These online

assignments provided me with case studies that opened my eyes to possible situations that I

might face as a future Recreational Therapist. At the time of completing these online

assignments, I was unable to see much of a point behind them. However, as my internship

continued, I was able to look back on those assignments and scenarios as a sort of guide when

it came to choosing behavioral interventions and designing surveys for course evaluations.

Once I was able to begin participating in actual interventions, both online and in person,

I feel as though my internship really took off. The best part of interning at Copperview

Recreation Center is that I was exposed to so many programs with so many different

populations. I began working with Eljay, my internship supervisor, every Saturday for Miracle

Baseball. Miracle baseball is designed for children with intellectual disabilities. Eljay provided

me with the opportunity to design multiple intervention protocols and to facilitate those

interventions. She provided me with feedback that made facilitating and planning future

interventions easier and less stressful. In addition to miracle baseball, I was able to assist

another CTRS, Rebecca, with holding online “mini-camp” activities such as cooking classes and

BINGO. Mini camp was also designed for individuals with intellectual disabilities and included

people of all ages. I also had the opportunity to work under a CTRS named Taylor who is

responsible for running wheelchair sports, air guns, and bocce ball. Taylor taught me how to

facilitate interventions for each of her programs. All of Taylors programs were designed for

individuals with physical disabilities and a few were specifically for veterans. I was also
encouraged to visit other facilities in Utah throughout my internship where I was exposed to

working with individuals who suffer with mental health issues and substance abuse.

I then had the opportunity to be interviewed and hired by another CTRS named Emma

who runs the Adaptive summer camp at Copperview Rec Center. Emma hired me on as the

assistant director which gave me the responsibility of assisting in designing the entire summer

camp, summer camp documentation, participant goals, and weekly summaries for parents.

Preparing for summer camp took a lot of researching evidence-based interventions appropriate

for the age and population. I was introduced to the staff that I would be overseeing and was

able to give them a description of what Recreational Therapy is to me, and what my goals for

summer camp would be. Once summer camp began, I was able to implement participant goals

made either by the participant themselves or their parents, as well as daily documentation. This

documentation was scanned into Copperview Recreation Centers hard drive for future interns

to be able to utilize. I was also responsible for either working the opening or closing shift,

assisting other staff with behavioral issues, communicated with parents, and lead interventions

The entire experience of summer camp is something I will never forget. I was exposed to new

disabilities, new responsibilities, and new experiences.

I believe that this internship has assisted in shaping me to be a better Recreational

Therapist. Being exposed to so many RT professionals helped me improve my understanding

and implementation of the APIED process and gave me access to some of the most

knowledgeable people in the field.