A February full of things....

Good Afternoon,
I wanted to update you all a little bit on what I am doing within my internship. I am at the Department of Community Development in Lima. I am working with "the city" and have noticed that there are quite a few stipulations that go along with that title. I working towards my social work practicum so I will be doing this field placement until the end of the semester. I will be honest with you... I am already exhausted and have gotten a little tired of sitting around waiting. The very different thing with my placement is that I am working within the Macro field of Social work instead of the micro. I don't necessarily work with individuals like my friends and other social work students might, I am building this relationship between the community, activities, events, and the individuals. I seem to like the term "umbrella group." We have alot that we are trying to "keep dry" and build up beneath our department. We have neighborhood specialist (whom I work under), Property Maintenance, Affordable housing, and much more. Within the department we have about 11 people working. I really enjoy going into work every day because I like to listen to the conversation around me.... chatting about their long day yesterday, about the shows on tv, but also about what it is they want to accomplish within the day. I have my own "cubby" as I might call it where I have access to a computer, phone, printer, and a LOT of informational tools. From older manuals, to new journals and books. My field instructor is an incredible woman that is always encouraging me to read new things. She likes to let me go off and figure things out by myself, which is a challenge, because I'm not a decision maker. :)

This is my 4th week at placement and I have been designing different workshops that will include differnet people from the neighborhood associations as well as the community members. It is a very exciting task. I've been prepping for this event and it is right around the corner. From trying to find speakers, to making sure I know the information, it has been a busy week.

Outside of my internship I have to go back to Bluffton once a week for class. I have 2 differnet classes, that only meet once a week, and I tend to not really call one a class. It meets for about an hour once a week and is alot of discussion.....

I can't wait to share more about how the workshops have turned out, my time at placement, and the last semester of my career at Bluffton.

I hope you enjoy the day and that you are staying warm, because it seems to be snowing here.

Blessings of Peace,
Anna