Week 3- Going Outside My Comfort Zone

July 31, 2016

Last week for my internship, I was doing mostly side-work and had fewer sites visits. I am continuing to organize the document regarding college visitations and summer programs, as well as finding more information about each opportunity in the document, such as how much of it is paid for, what the application process is, and other details that are important to know before moving forward.

I also created permission slips for the students to give their parents before going on each site visit with Project Rousseau. Project Rousseau sent me examples of permission slips they have used in the past, and I have created new permission slips that are specific to each activity the students will be doing.

I completed a report on the DuSable Museum of African American History. This will be a great activity for the kids to participate in. It is a well respected museum with lots of history and knowledge to gain inside. Some of the exhibits change monthly or yearly while others are permanent. The museum currently has 11 exhibits, with lots of art with some actual historic artifacts as well. All the exhibits in this museum are very moving and really take the museum visitor on a journey. I believe the students will learn a lot while enjoying themselves at this museum.

I also contacted the Hyde Park Art Center. They are having a guest curator come during September, so I am inquiring about different talks or exhibits they will have that would be good for the students to go see.

I have been going outside of my comfort zone a lot going on these site visits. I am not one who usually likes to do things on her own, so going around different areas of Chicago that I am not familiar with in general, let alone by myself, is something I never really thought I would be doing. I really love the experience of going to areas I would not necessarily go to, as well as seeing different museums and learning so much. None of this would be possible without this internship.

I am also still learning a lot about patience, as I need to be in contact with multiple people to get certain documents completed. Some of these people reply much more quickly than others, while some take days or even a week to reply. I am beginning to understand that although I may want a response right away, the individuals who I am calling on have several priorities other than the items they are working on with me, therefore I can’t always expect them to drop everything so my project can move forward. This is definitely something that is going to help me in the future, with both class work and work in the real world.

I am still in contact with the Food Pantry regarding the community service activity for the students. We are trying to set something up for the end of September. It is looking like the HPA group will be going to the food pantry on Saturday mornings from the hours of 9 to 11. Where they will be packaging up food for the pantry to take on their home deliveries. The only problem I potentially foresee with this plan is that the food pantry is a good hour away from Hyde Park Academy, where the group will be meeting. This would just mean the students would need to get up earlier than normal on Saturdays, which may be a challenge but I am very hopeful this will work out.