Jenna Hink

16 July 2022

Summer Internship Course

Introduction

My name is Jenna Hink and I had to pleasure of completing my internship this summer at

Garden Plaza of Greenbriar Cove in Ooltewah, Tennessee. This is an independent living facility

under the company Century Park, which has many locations across the country, including other

independent living facilities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes. As an independent

living facility, the residents still provide for themselves, many still drive cars, cook, clean, and

even have jobs. This building has been open for thirteen years and functions very well because

the staff members are all compassionate, enthusiastic, and hard working. Every employee

exhibits a strong commitment to making this facility feel like a home for the residents that live

here. Individuals must be fifty-five years of age to live at this community, so we have a vast age

range of residents, meaning some are in better health than others but they are still able to

function on their own. The purpose of this facility is to provide a sense of community for people

whether they have lost a spouse or loved one, do not have family members to assist them, or

simply just want to live around other individuals their age. Whatever the reason may be for a

resident to live here, they are welcomed with open arms by not only the exceptional staff

members, but also other residents. There are several departments that work together to provide

meals, housekeeping and maintenance services, and a wide variety of activities at this

community to keep residents busy and happy.

Description of Experiences
 My role as an intern looked different every few weeks as I got to move around to all

departments to really get to know how each one functions on its own, and how it plays into the

overall success of the facility. I spent two weeks in each department, which included being a

front desk receptionist, a server in the dining room, part of the maintenance team, cleaning rooms

as a housekeeper, leading activities on the lifestyles team, and working with the sales and

marketing offices. The most fun department I got to spend time in was lifestyles, where I got to

sit in on, lead, and participate in activities such as music, exercise, and art classes, as well as

musical guests and movie showings. Being part of the lifestyles department was also rewarding

because I got to spend time with the residents while they were doing things they enjoyed, and

they loved that I was able to join them and have fun with them. A very challenging part of my

internship was being a server in the dining room because while I enjoyed the fast-paced

environment, the residents can be very rude and impatient when it comes to their meals. It is very

hard to please all of them every day with a variety of food options and timely service, especially

because they were very short staffed on servers during my time there. I have no previous

experience in any restaurant setting so it was a lot for me to learn in a short amount of time,

making it stressful but I tried to enjoy my time in that department as best I could.

One place that I wish I had more experience working with was in the business offices

because I would have liked to learn more about what they do regarding sales and marketing, such

as tours, advertisement, and budgeting. The business department plays a huge role in the success

of the facility, and it would have been interesting to see more of what happens behind the scenes.

My time in the maintenance and housekeeping departments felt a bit extensive since they work

together most of the time and I feel that I was not as active and productive during my time with

them. I did enjoy getting to work in maintenance and housekeeping, but I would say I mostly just
learned small skills like how to hang shelves, fix toilets, and clean certain things, which may be

useful in my personal life, but I feel like I could have been doing something else that pertains

more to my internship experience or interacting with the residents. I am glad I got to spend time

in these departments to learn how they contribute to the well-being of the residents and the

cleanliness of the facility, but I personally believe two or three weeks here would have been

better than four.

Perception and Evaluation of the Internship

Overall, my internship experience has exceeded my personal expectations because I got

to work in so many different departments and environments in such a short period of time. Some

departments were more informal than others, some more stressful, and some super fun. Traveling

through each department, I had to adjust my mannerisms to match the environment I was in and

the people I was working with, which was difficult at times. Before I began my internship, I did

expect to become more personable due to working with an older population, but I grew a lot

more than I thought I would. I learned a lot about individual residents and how they wished to be

treated, such as some would tease me and I would tease them back, while others would always

be very formal and well mannered, so I would match that. The set up for my internship worked

extremely well for me and I am really grateful for the variety of experiences I got just from one

site. The facility was very open to ideas and contributions from me and all staff members. I was

often asked for my opinions or ideas on how the facility could improve whether it be on the

communication skills between departments or ideas for events or activities. My site supervisor

was eager to hear my thoughts on each department and how they may be able to improve in their

staffing or how they function. I do not feel like I was being supervised by my site supervisor

because I did not even see her most days, but she was on top of my schedule, would call me into
her office to check on how I was doing, and did a very good job communicating to the

department head’s when I would be with them and what I would do with them. While I may not

have worked alongside my supervisor every day, she was very kind to check in on me and make

sure I was comfortable and doing well.

My experience at Garden Plaza of Greenbriar Cove truly could not have been any better.

The employees were all extremely welcoming and excited about having me shadow them, the

department heads would jokingly fight over who would get to work with me next. All of the

residents were very interested in my time at the facility and would track me down in the different

departments to see what new things I was learning. I feel that I have built some very good

connections with several of them and have told them that I would write them all letters as well as

come back for special occasions to visit. I would recommend this facility for any future intern,

no matter what their degree may be in. Because of way the internship was set up, I learned so

many different things such as social skills, what it’s like to work in a restaurant, how to fix

various things, and a lot about planning activities. This was a great experience and I feel like I

learned a lot about the senior population, how the facility is run, how to navigate working with

different people, but also so much about myself. I definitely would consider a career in this

setting because of how fun the elderly population is, especially in an independent living facility.

I got extremely lucky to work with such wonderful and caring people, including the staff

members and the residents.

Internship Preparedness

I did feel academically prepared for my internship, but it was not super public health

related so I do not feel like I had to be very prepared academically. Most of the tasks I had to

complete were common sense or just very easy to learn. I think that having taken so many public
health courses, it helped me to understand the health issues that these residents may face, and

how it may affect them, such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, and others. I felt most prepared for

working with the lifestyles team because I am very good at planning and following through with

the plans. For activities and events, I was always on top of setting up chairs and any art supplies

or decorations needed. I felt relatively confident to work as a receptionist at the front desk

because I was excited to talk to the residents and get to know them all, which I definitely

accomplished in this position. The departments that I felt the least prepared were dining and

maintenance because I have no experience in either of these things. I have purposefully never

had a job in the food industry or as a server because it is very high stress and was never

something I wanted to do. It only took me a few days in the dining department to catch onto how

things worked and to feel more confident, which really surprised me. As for maintenance, it is

not very surprising that I was unaware of how to fix air conditioning units or toilets, but I had a

great teacher and now I know how to do it! Just like in dining, my confidence in maintenance

grew and I was pleased with how much I was learning.

A handful of courses at Georgia College really helped prepare me for my internship.

Community health was the most beneficial because it gave me insight into how to address

different populations, especially the elderly. My introduction to public health course also taught

me a lot about the health issues that the older population faces, which helps me to understand

what the residents I work with struggle with. I am not sure if the GCSU School of Health and

Human Performance could have done any better at preparing me for the real-life application of a

public health major. I feel educated in all aspects of the field and am eager to learn even more in

depth in my graduate studies, but I am very thankful for the professors at Georgia College for

setting me up for my internship.

Internship Performance

During my internship experience, I gained a lot of social skills by working with so many

different people, both employees and residents. I also learned a lot about how the specific facility

was run and all the factors that play into it operating smoothly and efficiently. I have been

satisfied with my ability to turn in assignments and projects on time. I have actually found it kind

of beneficial to be documenting my progress in my weekly journals because I am able to look

back and see all that I have accomplished over my time at my internship site. My time

management skills have also improved a lot throughout this experience because my top priority

has been to excel at my internship site and on my assignments for my internship course. I believe

that I have had a great work ethic and have been very optimistic, many of my fellow employees

have told me that I bring a lot of positivity and enthusiasm into the facility because of how much

I look forward to being there. When I am given new tasks, I do them to the best of my ability, am

eager to learn new things, and I do not give up. While some areas have been more challenging

than others, I am always willing to keep trying until I exceed. I feel like there are still areas I can

improve on and skills I can sharpen but I am still unsure about what specifically those may be. I

learned a lot about myself during this internship and am positive I have so much more to learn in

the future, but I believe my time at graduate school will help me grow even more to become

more successful in my future career.

Personal/Professional Insights/Benefits

This internship experience has impacted my personal goals by helping me learn about my

work ethic and attitude in the workplace. Professionally, I have learned how I work around

different people as well as alone, and that I am comfortable working individually and as a part of

a team. As for my academic goals, my internship has helped me solidify my decision on

continuing my education in graduate school. There is still so much for me to learn about the field

of public health, and I am excited to be able to continue on this path with confidence that it is

what I wish to do as a career. I have gained a lot of insight into the senior population, and I truly

believe that I would enjoy a career that works with this population.