Takin' Care of Business #17

When I was in the processes of finding an internship, I kept telling myself to get out there and find a new area of work that I had never encountered. That's the whole reason why I applied to work in Summer Orientation. However, I had the awesome surprise of picking out a university that conducts summer orientation for families. This was a foreign concept to me as I always thought Orientation was for the students...but as our millennials continue to tie the umbilical cord tighter to mom and/or dad...mom and dad have to attend orientation. Seriously? You can't leave Junior at school for two days?

When I arrived at my internship two weeks ago, I was full of energy....roaring to start. I kept asking my two supervisors "What projects do you have for me?" But they didn't have anything special for me to do. However, they kept encouraging me to make this MY experience. This meant WHAT did I want to get out of this?

So after a long session of self reflecting this Spring I identified areas that I really needed to work on. These are areas I noticed that employers would be looking for when I get out into the field next year. During my assistantship this Spring, I had the opportunity to sit in on campus interviews with candidates we were hiring for new positions in my unit. They are entry level positions, and so the people applying were men and women just getting out of grad school...weeks shy of receiving their degrees. Through that process, I understood that budgeting experience is a transferable skill that I could utilize to my benefit. I hate numbers and seem to have issues with money (because there never seems to be enough)...but I thought budgeting experience would be something new to learn. I also idetified supervisory skills as an area that I have had knowledge about by working in different Executive Boards with student organizations I have been involved with. Being the authority figure has always been something I have struggled with because I don't enjoy telling people what to do, how to do it, or just flat out being the boss. Though I don't like it, I have to learn. Another area I wanted to improve on is the ability to research. It's different stories to research for a class project than to research for the sake of imparting knowledge into the world. Presenting professionally this research, is my last component of areas I want to work on.

Parent Summer Orientation...interesting concept. My supervisors took seriously what I wanted to learn and designed some projects for me. These involve: researching different types of families/parents and their needs (i.e. transfers, first generation, Spanish-speaking, commuters); if the research I find seems to be of significance to the future of the office and their programming for parents/families I may have the opportunity to present to the VP of Student Development (really exciting yet nerve wracking); being able to learn how our Parent Association (PTA for college parents) gets funding (i.e through selling merchandise, Parent Orientation fees, etc.); supervising the Parent Orientation Leaders (by creating a Performance Evaluation for the Orientation Leaders, assisting with their training process, and guiding them through Orientation duties)...alot of work for a 150 hour internship...which by now I am half way done with my hours--yikes!

I have to admit...I didn't think that Parent Orientation was a big deal. However, after preparing for the first Freshman Orientation session (which was today...and I amazingly worked through a 12 hour day) I realized that parents do play an integral role in their students life.

Today I had some Spanish speaking parents who were confused on where to go or how to pay and what to do...and so I talked them through the process and explained how when a student needs help the first person they will likely call for advice would be their mom and dad. I told them that the institution encouraged parents to attend this orientation (which is optional). The look on their faces was priceless...and I have never felt more rewarded with my job. The fact that I spoke Spanish and was able to interpret information for them and make them feel a part of this university---and that I made a point that their student was important to us and that as parents they were also important, not just for us, but the collegiate experience of their student. They seemed so grateful that I could talk to them as people and understand their situation (they drove HOURS to get here today, and with the economy being as it is--they didn't have much resources for them to attend this optional gathering). I was able to get both of the parents' fees' waived. And I made a family very happy today :) The father kept shaking my head and saying "Thank You" to me. He seemed so happy to know that someone cared about his family. Even if it was a stranger such as me. I met a family's needs today...and I'm never forgetting that moment when I connected with this family.

Studies show that students perform better and have a positive collegiate experience when their parents are involved in the collegiate experience. And today...I think I am responsible for some freshman having a successful first year. Hopefully, with the information these parents will get during Orientation they will motivate their student to pursue their dreams, and their kid will no longer be a statistic of Latinos who don't graduate (an important aspect of my life since I am Latina who faced obstacles in the way to get where I'm at now).

I did good. Stressful long day...but in the end, the hard work was worth it. I made someone's family a bit happier. All this on the first day of Orientation!!!!

I'm really happy at the place that I'm at this summer...I have the most amazing supervisor ever, the school is a perfect fit to my personality, and it's all in a small town setting. What more could an intern ask for? (Funny story: I told my supervisor on the first day when she took me out to lunch to get to know me better that it had been the best first day ever at anything. She was so proud. She kept trying to hold up to that standard all week. And it was--it was the best first week ever. And I think it will continue to be one of the best experiences I have ever had).