Its the end of my second week as a full-time Fellow, and as cliche as it sounds, I don’t know where the time went! My main task at Children’s Hunger Alliance is to assign volunteers to appropriate sites, which was hella-intimidating a week and a half ago when I literally knew nothing about these people or places.

To place one volunteer, I need to track down the site’s director to inquire about their needs; double-check with the site’s sponsor; solidify the volunteer’s availability and expectations, and get their approval for a suggested location; inform and remind the site’s “educator” and data collector about their added help; educate the volunteer on the particulars of a site; meet the volunteer on their first day of a site to make introductions; and then finally, send emails the next day to all parties to get a feel for how the session went.

…

The keystone, I’ve learned, to this and all endeavors is- communication! Literally, my job is just communicating, all day long. Making sure everyone knows what they’re supposed to know is a fulltime job. If everyone in the world knew everything there is to know, I can’t imagine what humankind could accomplish…

It’s ironic that it took me this long to realize the value and importance of communication, as I’m going to graduate with a B.A. in it next December, but of course experience is real learning. I’m glad I’ve learned this lesson so early in my career and life. I know realize the role software and systems that are designed to streamline communication, but more importantly, this experience has forced me to evaluate my own communication skills. Am I doing the best I can to clearly transfer relevant information to everyone around me, including my future self?

As budding professionals, we should all work to make this answer “yes.” If we start now, I foresee a smoother road ahead for everyone 🙂