Journal Entry #9 Closure

Reflect on how you will end your service experience well--with your mentor, with the work you

were assigned, with the people/agency you serve. How will you thank them? How will you

report what is done and undone?

I was not sure what to write for this originally. I did not really know how to end my

service experience at United Way. I am almost done now, with only a week's worth left. With that

being said, today they threw me a surprise going away party. We talked about TV shows and ate

donuts and drank orange juice with a fancy little table cloth. They gave me an ornament that says

"Live United."

I appreciated it, as I expected nothing. I also knew I had 10 hours left and did not feel like

I had been close enough to do to really start thinking about how to thank them. Now, I think I

was going to try and buy them all gift cards for Bailiwicks, as I work there. I can't afford much,

but I think it's worth it.

To be honest, if I were to thank them, it would be for their kindness. They were simply

kind people. I did not like the work, mostly because office work is a specific kind of draining to

my kind of personhood. It's claustrophobic and overstimulating in all the worst ways. There's no

sound, so you focus on the feeling of paper on your fingertips and the distant sound of a

shredder, all while your eyelids feel heavy. And you turn a lot of people down at United Way.

There are so many corporate regulations and other little rules that just end up feeling draining,

especially when you've been on the other side of the phone, struggling to get assistance. It takes
kind and patient people to work there, I have found, and I know I'm not in the best mental head

position to do the job long-term because I just end up feeling sad for so many people.

I know myself doing little office tasks, like sorting papers and shredding old ones, and

calling for appointments, and all of these other little things saved them so much time that they

used to help people out. I know they need an actual secretary to help. These are things that I can

only solve short term, but I am glad to have helped in the meantime.