This week I have been all over the place; between working at the clinic, doing outreach, and cleaning out and organizing KidSMILES storage unit, I am definitely getting an array of experiences!

My internship last summer was with MedWish, which is essentially a huge warehouse full of donated medical supplies that would eventually get sorted to send to countries in need, like Honduras and Lesotho. My main job was sorting supplies into sections, looking for very tiny expiration dates, counting thousands of supplies, and organizing our storage. Who knew this would come in handy! The full week I spent looking for expiration dates on individual bandaids and counting individually packed gauze helped me organize the storage unit yesterday. I never realized how fast I could pick out expiration dates hidden on packages – it is now my hidden talent.

It also made me think about the little things I am learning from this Fellowship that I have not realized that. I anticipate being able to apply the big things from this experience to my future career, but I wonder when I will be in a situation like the storage unit that I can excel because of my time at KidSMILES. It is strange to think about all of the small things a person can pick up from any experience, but I have a feeling this intensive Fellowship will give me tools to get through some difficult situations later on in my career.

I am looking forward to the next four weeks – most of the days are full of outreach visits, which has become one of my favorite parts of my experience. Before starting at KidSMILES, the thought of leading an outreach by myself to even 5 kids would have terrified me. On Tuesday, my volunteers got lost and could not make it to the visit, and I did not even think twice about doing the visit alone! This experience has made me much more comfortable not only with children, but in my ability to go with the flow and accomplish the goals of the outreach program. I am happy to see the personal and professional growth this experience is giving me, and I can’t wait to see what comes next!