My Summer Internship

My Summer Internship!

Today is the day I'm finally writing about my summer internship! I don't know if you guys are interested in hearing about my internship but I thought I would share what I can with you. 

Since my internship was in the field of counseling, I cannot legally share many in depth details about my time at the Ouachita Behavioral Health and Wellness Clinic, but I can share with you the things that I learned about myself and my future. 

As many of you know, prior to this summer, I worked in a snowcone stand for three summers before. It was an awesome starting job and I enjoyed my time there, yet with the pressure of graduating with my Bachelor's degree this coming May, I couldn't help but feel like I needed to be doing something more productive with my time and do something that would benefit me more for my future. 

So, with the help of the Dean of my school and one of my professors, I landed the internship at OBHAW. When I went into the internship, I was told I would be working with the C.L.I.M.B. program. This program is for children who have significant behavioral problems and cannot attend normal school because of these problems. The goal for the program is to get them the counseling/therapy that they need so that they can return safely to regular school. I was also under the impression that this was a program where I would be working with preschool children. If you know anything about me, you probably know that I am not particularly a fan of preschool children (with a few exceptions.) I'm not going to lie; I was beyond nervous for this experience. I did not know though, that C.L.I.M.B. was for children of all age groups. 

On my first day, I was down in the preschool area. Let me tell you, they sure gave me a run for my money. I am just germaphobic enough that preschoolers seriously gross me out. All the runny noses, slobber, and germs that preschoolers love to share are just not for me. Preschoolers with behavior problems are also very fond of hitting, kicking, scratching, biting, and whatever they can to escape from you. It was an intense first day, to say the least. 

After that day, with the exception of one other day, I was with the older kids for the rest of my internship. At the particular time of my internship, we had kids ranging from 11-14 years old. This was much more up my alley and enjoyed being with the older kids a lot more. I worked on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during each week and on each of the different days, we went on an outing. So on Tuesdays, we would take the kids swimming, Wednesdays we would go to the movies, and Thursdays we would go to the park. Being able to go on the outings also depended on the kids behaviors though. 

During my time with the kids, it certainly wasn't what I was expecting, but I learned so much about what it takes to be a counselor, what I need to do to prepare for my future, and what the kids need in order to get the help they deserve. These kids often have major outbursts of anger. Each day is something new and you have to be on your toes because you never know what to expect. Over the course of the summer I had a chair and a portable speaker thrown at me, I was screamed at multiple times, completely ignored at other times, and pranked more times than I can count, but I was also admired and respected by these kiddos many many times. I got to learn how these kids are taught to cope when they are feeling triggered by the other clients or something that's out of their control and I got to see them trying to cope and do what they have to to come down from an outrage. 

These were some of the sweetest kids who were raised under unfortunate circumstances and didn't choose to develop behavioral issues. You often see both sides of them multiple times throughout each day. I went into this internship knowing that I did not want to work with kids when I am licensed and this experience helped me to verify that. However, I have insane respect for the coworkers I had and all other people who can work with children. 

I came out of this internship feeling much more prepared for my future with what I learned about the next steps that I need to take and what all I will have to do after grad school. I came out of this internship with awesome references and even some new friends. But most importantly, I came out of this internship with an awareness and confidence that I am going into the right field and that I am certain that I want to make a difference in peoples' lives. 

My plan right now is to finish my Bachelor's degree in May, eventually go to grad school and get a Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, and hopefully become a Licensed Professional Counselor and work in outpatient for mostly adults, but in a family setting, with kids as well. 

I am excited for my future and excited to change lives in a positive, impactful way. ~Em