INTERNSHIP
Seniors at the Dayton Regional STEM School are required to complete a 72 hour internship. At first, this seemed like a daunting task to fit into an already busy schedule. After a few weeks of searching, contacting, and getting rejected by multiple jobsites, I finally found the perfect internship opportunity for me. I reached out to Fairhaven Church inquiring if there were any open positions. Fortunately, they had a perfect spot for me. As an intern, my role is to lead a small group of middle school students. We play games, eat food and sit in on lessons together. My requirements included attending the church every Wednesday for two and a half hours, serving food, administrating games, and displaying the qualities of a leader. The following is a daily blog of the hours I have completed.
This report details two potential careers, business entrepreneurship and English teaching. These careers were researched extensively throughout the career exploration process. Government, collegiate and informational websites were used for the research, and are sited in the sources. These Websites include the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Handbook and the Ohio State University Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The focus of the research was finding more information on the requirements, skills and degrees needed to be successful in careers one and two. After each career, two potential internships were found and documented for each career.
DAILY LOG
JUNE 5th
3 HOURS
To celebrate a new season of Middle School Wednesdays, students got to play in bounces houses. I helped by facilitating the obstacle course to make sure everyone is safe. Students ate hot dogs and chips and created bonds with new friends.
JUNE 19th
3 HOURS
Students joined each other at the church to play dodgeball, sing worship music and listen to a lecture about handling responsibilities. Afterwards, students discussed what they can do to manage their time and achieve their responsibilities.
JUNE 26th
3 HOURS
To celebrate the fourth of July, students met outside of the church to play games and enjoy time with one another. I served burgers and facilitated four square games.
JULY 8th
3 HOURS
On this night, everyone dressed in hula attire for a Hawaiian themed party. Students competed in hula hooping contests and ate Hawaiian rolls and ham with their friends.
JULY 10th
3 HOURS
Students gathered at Fairhaven to hear a new series focused on trusting Gods plans for their life. After eating and playing some games, I met with my group of students and gave them the opportunity to share some of their experiences of times they didn’t know what to do, but trusted God anyway.
JULY 17th
3 HOURS
Continuing last week’s series, students heard a lesson about overcoming fear. In small group, students talked about things they were afraid of. It felt really impactful for them to share their worries and hear that they aren’t alone.
JULY 24th
3 HOURS
Following last week, students learned about how they can show their relationship with God to their families, classmates, teachers, and anyone else looking in on their lives. In small group, students discussed times in their lives where they had shared their relationship with God with someone who didn’t go to church.
JULY 31st
3 HOURS
The final sermon in the series was shared by a guest speaker who shared his story with God, and how it changed his life completely. When it was time for small group, students shared times that their lives were changed, and how that change effects them today.
AUGUST 7th
3 HOURS
On this night, students gathered outside for a carnival themed night. Students played carnival games and ate snow cones, cotton candy and popcorn. I helped out by serving snow cones and handing out tickets to students.
AUGUST 14th
3 HOURS
Starting a new series, students heard a lesson about respecting parents, and how doing that glorifies God. During small group, students discussed how the Bible says respect can be anything, even if it’s small.
AUGUST 21st
3 HOURS
Continuing the previous weeks series, students learned about how they can lead God driven lives even while they are at school by respecting their classmates and teachers. In small group, students talked about how they can show their hearts of serving during their school week.
AUGUST 28th
3 HOURS
During the final week of this series, students got a lesson about how to show respect to their friends. Students then had the opportunity to meet with some of their friends to share times that they strengthened their bond. During small group students talked about times that they’re friendships had been tested by other factors.
SEPTEMEBER 4th
3 HOURS
Students met in the gym to play a game of capture the flag. After the game was over, I served ice cream to students as well as nachos. I had an opportunity to connect with other leaders and we shared our experiences with the students.
SEPTEMBER 11th
3 HOURS
Since it might have been one of the last nice days outside, students met in the field to participate in a “color war”. Basically, students run around with bottles shooting chalk powder at each other in a Color Run-esque fashion.
SEPTEMBER 18th
3 HOURS
Tonight, Fairhaven middle school students started a new three week series on friendships. They learned about how they can make good friends at school, but that friendships aren’t always easy. In small groups, I lead the conversation about what it means to have a God based friendship.
SEPTEMBER 25th
3 HOURS
Following up last week, students learned about repairing broken friendships and what the value in that is. We then proceeded to have a conversation about friendships that the students in my group have had and how they were able to repair them.
OCTOBER 2nd
3 HOURS
My final week at Fairhaven saw the conclusion of the friendship series. We ended off by talking about relationships that last. Students shared about their oldest friendships, and how they have maintained and strengthened them.
REFLECTION
As an intern at Fairhaven church, I was given the opportunity to develop bonds with middle school students, pursue new friendships with other interns and practice leadership skills. I led a small group of 7th grade boys. This gave me the opportunity to eat with them, teach them games, and even give them advice about their middle school lives. I wasn’t sure if I would like it. This was the first experience I’ve had working with younger kids. They can be rowdy, uninterested and even obnoxious at some times, but at the end of the day the students I got to know are coolest, kindest and smartest people I’ve met.
Starting this internship showed me a new passion. I had never really had an experience connecting with people in this setting prior to my internship with Fairhaven. I joined a community of preachers, leaders, worship singers and other employees at the church. They welcomed me with open arms and encouraged me to become the best leader I can be. I might not necessarily go into a position at a church, but I definitely want leadership to be some part of my future career. I really enjoyed being there for the students as a role model. I knew that I was capable of leading a group before, but it wasn’t until my internship concluded that I realized it was something I was good at and genuinely enjoyed.
It wasn’t only the students that I connected with. Every week before students arrived, we met as a group of leaders to discuss the content for that evening and touch base on how each small group is doing. Through these weekly meetings, I met some great friends who are in the same position as I am: high school students looking to help out. It was interesting to see how being in such a tight-knit community creates relationships that last. A few of the weeks, I stayed for an extra hour just to talk to other high school leaders.
Most of the students in my group were complete strangers to me prior to this internship experience. I didn’t know how I would react to this. Admittedly, I was pretty awkward at first. I felt like I was struggling to connect with my group. I didn’t think I could lead them because I had not really connected with any of them on a personal level. The third or fourth week I was there, I decided to change that. I starting having conversations with individual students in my group. Whether it was during a game, while we were eating or between activities, I started learning where my students went to school and what their hobbies are. As time went on, I started to get to know them all quite well. It’s an interesting dynamic in middle school. Some kids love to be the center of attention and make their peers laugh, while others would rather sit back quietly and observe everything around them. As I began to know my students, I was able to see all of these personality traits.
After a few more weeks, I felt like I was really making progress with this group. The conversations were natural, they listened to my instructions, and even starting asking me about my own personal life. It wasn’t like they were a group and I was their leader, but instead we were all one group. Since connecting with students younger than me is something I’ve never done before, this was a huge growth. I learned that to be a good leader you need to know who you’re leading and care for them as such. For me, that looked like making sure they’re heard and that they know that their passions and interests have value. This was my greatest growth during my internship.
Even though my internship is over, the impact it had on me will last. I developed friendships with other leaders, connected with my middle school group of boys and practiced my leadership skills in a way that I hadn’t before. I’ll never forget seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces when they were worshipping, eating, playing games or talking to one another. It was such a great experience that in the future I hope that I can find my place there for a longer period of time.