My name is Jenna Hays, and I am entering my senior year at Ohio State. I am a medical anthropology major, meaning I study how different aspects of people’s lives– childhood experiences, socioeconomic status, race, etc.– can all impact their health status. This summer, I am working with Arc Industries. This nonprofit works with people with disabilities, mainly adults, and provides services from as job training to all day care. Over the course of the next ten weeks, I will be working with their ASPIRE program and relaunching a blog called Through Our Lens.

The ASPIRE program is a new program where the company leads excursions throughout the city of Columbus. One person from ARC will lead a group of four people to an excursion at places such as the zoo. This program is fairly new, and has received a lot of interest from the people we work with, as there is currently a waiting list. Moreover, I am extremely excited to relaunch their blog. Through Our Lens is a collective of pictures and short stories that shows people what we do every day. It can be empowering and validating for people with disabilities, and their families, to see themselves participating in activities that they may have been told would never be possible for them. I run all of the social media for my other part time job, so this is right up my alley. I shared some ideas with my bosses and they seemed excited for a fresh pair of eyes to take over.

This week was filled with lots of training and lots of trying to remember everyone’s name at the company. The first few days were filled with many meetings where I got a better understanding of what I would be doing for the rest of the summer. Throughout this week, I was met with welcoming words, which was comforting to me. This is my first internship, so I was pretty nervous walking in on the first day. However, by the time I left, I felt like I was now a part of a little family who wanted to see me succeed. They even gave me my own cubicle, which I was extremely excited about, and my bosses wrote welcome notes for me!

Overall, I am thrilled to be working with ARC. The people are incredible and the work is exciting. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the summer brings!