Columbus Foundation Fellowship Programs

My biggest fear this summer was being known around the school as, “the student intern.” I work a few different jobs at my university and I have the opportunity to contribute important work, but I always am very clearly the student in the room. Being regarded as “the student” has never deterred me, and thankfully my colleagues at other workplaces are always inclusive and appreciative of my student perspective. Despite this, I made it my goal this summer to feel some semblance of belonging as I enter the young professional world. 

Luckily, at Cristo Rey I have had no feeling of otherness in my role as a Summer Fellow. Just this week, I completed the first stage of a project in which I am creating a new site map for Cristo Rey’s website. As I met with my supervisor to go over my first draft of the site map, it felt rewarding to understand how my work is valued and will be implemented in our future website. My projects this summer are pushing me professionally and helping me dive into the nonprofit world, for which I am grateful. 

I also am always grateful for the community at Cristo Rey who make the workday something I look forward to, rather than dread, as I make my morning commute. My supervisors and colleagues always take the time to stop by my office and chat, allowing me to gain a better understanding on everyone’s career path and passion for improving education in Columbus. From learning about the development side of Cristo Rey to working directly with the teachers, I feel more and more confident in my hopes to pursue some sort of job in education post-graduation. Will I pursue teaching? Admissions? Advocacy? Who knows! At least I know I am headed on the right path and I have a whole team along that path who value me and my work. 

Also, a fun Friday anecdote: tomorrow is our annual Freshman Welcome Social to meet the newest class of Cristo Rey students. Staff members are currently setting up for the event and I heard them testing the audio system by blasting Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road at least 3 times. Check back next week as I can only hope to report that the festivities tomorrow will feel as hype as this.

Hi. My name is Ashley. I’m almost 27 and still don’t know what I want to be when I grow. Did I mention that I am also a Ph.D. student? Yep, and I’m a year away from being halfway through my program. Things are continuing to feel more real (as if the stress from grad school wasn’t already palpable enough). It makes some sense to assume that I would have a better idea of what kind of career I would like. After all, I am out of the formal work force and have endless tools available to search for viable career path. I’ve also already have done the difficult task of picking a field that piques my interests and passions. So, when my family, friends, colleagues, or passersby ask, “What are you going to do with that degree?” the question shouldn’t give me a slowly creeping sense of dread.

Now, this isn’t a post about scaring people out of applying to a doctoral program. The skills and knowledge I have been able to attain have been incredible so far. I’m talking about that nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that I need to decide and plan out the rest of my life in order to feel content. The issue is that right now I honestly couldn’t give a straight answer of what kind of career I would like. The upside of the matter is that I have resolved my self to the fact that a lot of people are in my position. Plans are just plans. The real trick is leaving yourself open to new possibilities along the way.

I’m picking up bits and pieces of the puzzle as I broaden my experiences professionally and personally. To some this might sound like an obvious track of thought. But as a professional worry-wart, I can tell you that it is a process. My time with the Siemer Institute has offered me insight into another path I can take. I don’t have to decide what to do with the insights yet, but I have more experiences to help me eventually decide what I’m going to be when I grow up.

My time with SON Ministries this summer so far has been quite the whirlwind – but that is to be expected when you’re around 100+ children under the age of 12 every day. But, I think this whirlwind is exactly what I need this summer to not only do my job, but continuously teach me new lessons. The lessons I learn each week are the ones that I try to reflect on come Friday. This week, my reflections have centered around just how important it is to stay engaged with those you serve. I believe that most people would agree that working directly with others helps keep you connected to your mission, but we sometimes forget to take the time to work with others in the pursuit of pure productivity.

My job this summer is to capture the stories and photos that encompass what SON does and the lives that the organization changes. My end result will (hopefully) be a holistic marketing product or strategy that lets the light of the organization shine through these stories. But the more time I spend at my computer trying to be productive, editing photos, or researching marketing techniques – the more I fail at meeting these goals. It has continuously been when I take a break to play with the children that I capture the best pictures, hear the funniest quotes, or listen to the most remarkable story.

Throughout the past four weeks, I’ve focused more on just being. Being with the children and being with the people I work with at SON. Sometimes, I think we focus too much on being productive rather than the end product. By simply “being” with the children at camp I’ve found much more value, which will make for an even more valuable product. By spending more time away from an office, where I would be removed from those that I serve, I am working towards an authentic and genuine end result. The more I know the children that SON serves, the better I can reflect the impact that the organization makes. I also get to be a part of more fun moments like this on the weekly “water day”:

As a semi-fluid continuation of my blog last week regarding the great culture at BBBS and the heavy value they place on each individual, I want to confess a bad habit I have, and start recognizing my own value.

On more than one occasion (four to be exact), when introducing myself to someone new within the organization I say, “Oh, I’m just the intern.” Every single time, without fail, the BBBS employee has said to me “Well you’re not JUST an intern.” The people here are incredibly kind, and while I agreed, I thought that they were just being nice. This week, the same interaction occurred when we were out at an event with an employer from another company. This interaction may seem really miniscule and insignificant, but I think there is a greater issue at hand here.

Maybe it is because I am a millennial that struggles with self-worth, maybe it is because I am a woman that is often overridden in a work space, or maybe it is because I am always the youngest person in the room. But for some reason, I can’t seem to shake the phrase “just an intern”, and value myself as an integral part of this amazing team that is working hard for this community. This series of events led me to reflect on other times in my life I devalue my worth. When I am babysitting my niece, I say “I’m just her aunt.” When I introduce myself to someone at a bar I say “I’m just a student.” When I am leading tours for prospective students and parents on campus, I say “I’m just an ambassador.” I see all these “just” phrases beginning to pile up and I realize if I do not start valuing myself and the roles I play in each community I am a part of, how will anyone else value me. And more than that, how can I fulfill my responsibilities in each role to the best of my ability if I don’t find value in my position. We talked about adding value to a community this week, and my goal for this summer is to shake “just” phrases, so that I can add value to each community and finally see the value in myself.

Happy Thursday!

I can’t believe I’ve already been at the GIAC for a month! These last two weeks in particular have gone by ridiculously fast, with campers running around all day every day. This week, we’ve had 8-11 year-olds at camp, and it’s been fun getting to be a counselor for these kind, energetic, and smart kids. Most of them did not know each other at the beginning of the week, so it’s great to see them all make friends and try new things together!

This week, we’ve made habitat murals, mixed slime, made ice cream in a bag, played water freeze tag, found an indigo bunting (a super rare bird in the area), dissected owl pellets, tied paracord bracelets, practiced skits, and much more! We did sit spots and journal reflections too, and it warmed my heart as many of our campers shared that they felt happy, calm, and inspired while sitting and practicing mindfulness.

This mindfulness is really important for kids in today’s day and age because they are constantly surrounded by stimuli, screens, and structured schedules. And many times throughout this week, camp felt a little too hectic as we tried to rush from activity to activity. But for fifteen minutes or so each day, we got to sit outside and reflect, not rushing the campers to share out or to record their observations. Everyone moves at their own pace, and so some campers were ready to share before others, but they did a great job of being patient and waiting for everyone else to reflect. Mindfulness allows us to experience the moment we’re in, without having to think about what we’re doing next, so being able to learn patience is crucial to staying present. I know I’ve talked about sit spots for two straight weeks, but seeing them in action has really made me want to use them for myself and others in the future as a powerful mindfulness strategy. The GIAC doesn’t just teach about birdwatching and tree-hugging–it has shown these campers that being in nature can teach kids and adults alike life lessons, interpersonal skills, and reflection techniques.

Nature is patient, too–plants and animals become ready to grow and live when it is their time. And we found the perfect example of that this week, when one of our campers found a teeny tiny monarch caterpillar on one of our hikes. This little guy was the first addition to the GIAC’s annual monarch exhibit, where we put milkweed and any caterpillars we find in an enclosure and wait for them to form and emerge from their chrysalises as brilliant butterflies. But first, each little, adorable caterpillar must have patience and stay present–they can’t worry about forming their chrysalises until they’ve eaten enough milkweed. Clearly, there’s a thing or two we can learn from these little guys.

So as we close out our last day of camp tomorrow by presenting awards and performing our skits, I need to practice such mindfulness by just enjoying time spent with the campers–next week, I’ll be getting back to work on my summer-long projects! I know I’ll miss running around with campers and everything, but I’m also looking forward to building towards the youth development and environmental justice initiatives that the GIAC has in mind!

Have a great weekend, everyone! (:

Kenzie

This past week has been a mixed bag of insanely crazy and remarkably slow, as far as work load goes. We had four summer camps running this summer: Drawing and Painting, Acting Animals, Film Making, and a Hamilton camp! Along with having roughly 50 campers running around with their counselors and teachers all day, we had the Fall Program to plan out and several other tasks to complete during the week.  

However, on Monday morning, one of our teachers did not come in on time. I went into the classroom to make sure each of the campers got signed in and had them introduce each other. Ten or fifteen minutes went by and the teacher still hadn’t shown up. Then the executive director pulled me out into the hallway and said that the teacher couldn’t make it that morning. We had to tag team the class and come up with something for them to do until noon! As the result of our improvisation, the campers drew landscape scenes of their favorite seasons and did a sketching scavenger hunt in nature around the building.  

Similarly, and on that same day, the other intern and I had to improvise our art project that we brought to the local summer lunch program. This week, most of our glue bottles were dried or stopped up, and the kids were having a hard time using them on the fabric. So instead of being able to focus our attention on helping each kid (or preventing a particularly determined 6 year-old from freely cutting up the fabric into confetti), we both had to run between them and unstop glue, find new glue, and round up some paperclips to hold the fabric down as the glue dried.  

My takeaway from this week is that being flexible and being able to improvise are central elements of working in the arts. You have to be able to think on your feet and come up with quick solutions so that things get accomplished. I think it’s an important skill in life, too. When you run into unexpected deviations in your plans, you have to know how to work with them.

The other intern and me preparing a craft for an upcoming week of Camp Creativity

My favorite part of Ohio Wildlife Center is that each day brings new adventures and challenges. There hasn’t been one day that was exactly like another, and it took some getting used to, but now I absolutely love it. Everyone that works at the wildlife center has all hands on deck and is willing to help you with anything that comes up with a moments notice, and I have come to be able to do the same for others as well. 

Whether it’s organizing a file drawer, photographing kids at day camp, helping care for animals at the hospital or whatever else may come up, it is influential to the success of the organization and I am happy to help. It takes a specific, selfless person to work in an environment where there may be days that you are responsible for things that are not part of your job description and I am thankful to work in a place where that is the norm with little protest. 

This week, I was able to see a real, direct impact that came from the marketing and social media management I have been responsible for. We posted on our Facebook page about needing “animal igloos” that you often see in bunny or guinea pig enclosures. The hospital uses these every day so that orphaned wildlife have a place that they feel safe and warm. When I was at the hospital, they were completely out and in desperate need of them. The development team and I posted on Facebook that the hospital was in need, and throughout the week they received over 50 animal igloos that had been donated! It may sound like a small victory, but it is important to celebrate the wins when there is such a quick turnaround and quantifiable impact.

Hello, and welcome back to my five loyal readers!

This week is significant to me because I am starting to feel confident with the names of the campers. Granted, it’s only been about eight days since I met them, but I feel as though we’re starting to get to the point where it’s offensive to the kids if I don’t know their name by now—especially if I’m talking with them daily. I am most familiar with the smaller nuggets save for the few middle schoolers who deem me cool enough to engage. Still! I’m making progress and it feels great.

Speaking of the younger kids of the camp, I spent my Monday supervising half of our “pod” (youngest age group) during a field trip to NetJets, a private business jet charter and aircraft management company. Apparently HFF and NetJets have an ongoing relationship which culminated in this center-wide visit; in my own words, the mission of the trip was to engage young people in cool things. And it was certainly cool!!

We made rounds to various stations that taught the kids about the anatomy of a plane, demonstrated a flying simulation, and explained multiple safety procedures via tours of safety vehicles to name a few. Though, the highlights of the stations, according to my group, were the meet and greet with the service dogs and the tour of one of NetJet’s private (18 million dollar!) plane.

Yes, the material items and information was neat. Even more neat, in my opinion, was the  encouragement and positive communication I heard between NetJet staff and our kids. One of the stations involved teaching campers the motions of the ground safety controller. You know, the one who guides the pilot to the correct strip. I heard comments like, “you’re doing such a great job. After you graduate, come back and visit me and we’ll see about getting you a job here.” Or, “would you like to fly a plane like this one day? It takes a lot of school, but it’s worth it” from the pilots who volunteered their time.

My hope is that experiences like this stick with the kids to foster academic and professional interests that will prompt motivation to graduate from high school, firstly, and then a form of higher education, even. Multiple staff members at the Dowd have expressed to me that their work is intentional and daily class activites are about more than just school.

The goal is to teach the kids that they’re smart, capable, interesting people who can achieve big things with the right support: an incredibly invaluable lesson to teach.

Hello Readers! 

Last week I finished preparing our summer camp curriculum. The week went by extremely fast as we prepared to serve about 32 kids starting Monday, June 24th. My curriculum focuses on social emotional learning and drug prevention. Along with teaching all the students I am also a summer counselor for a group of 7 girls at Bright Lights Summer Camp. 

My two days of summer camp have been a whirlwind. The kids have so much energy and sometimes I find it challenging to keep up. Keeping up with the kids, although draining, at the end of the day is a fun learning experience. As a counselor, I am met with the challenge of teaching my group what boundaries are, why listening is important, and how to have fun while being kind. Every opportunity is a chance to teach them about problem solving. For example, my group and I went to play outside with the other girl group and when we came back to the classroom they had about five issues to relay to me. So and so said this, so and so did this, I think so and so is going to start a rumor, I feel left out, and I hate going outside. So many personalities and feelings to appease and understand whilst following a schedule, however, we talk through each issue and I give them advice on how to approach each problem. Then I tell them that they have a chance to solve the problem amongst themselves, but if it gets out of hand to let me know. What the kids do not know is that I am learning whether the methods I use are actually working. My group of children are stretching my own understanding of how to communicate. This is also due to the variety of ages. Within my group the age ranges from 7 to 12 and all together I believe the age ranges from 6 to 14. 

When I taught my first class my 30 min presentation quickly turned into an hour presentation. Only because I felt I needed all of them to know that I wanted to hear from them. I have learned that children easily feel shut out if they do not get to participate. As the instructor, I have to think of the schedule and the time I have allotted, but the child will think why doesn’t she pick me and why doesn’t she want me to speak? If I ask everyone a question and one of them has a hard time giving an opinion they shut down. Now I am seeking to find this balance where I can communicate with children in a way that reaches them. Yesterday, while talking to all the girls during my lesson on social emotional learning I said that in order to communicate effectively they needed to talk to me. I told them I could not understand why they are not listening to me or why they are in a bad mood if they do not tell me their worries or issues. Then I explained, in order to communicate effectively we need to let people know how they make us feel and why we feel the way we feel. Right after I finished saying this three hands went up from three kids who were not listening. All three told me issues they were having some health issues and some personal. As soon as we talked I felt that all three of us were in a better place and that they felt they could rely on me more. 

I will continue to bring my best for the kids and I am hoping I can keep up! 

Talk soon!

Ladan 

This week was the first full week of summer camp and it was quite the week. When I wasn’t working on my marketing project, I was helping with the group of kindergarten through 2^ndgraders. Compared to my work last summer with the middle school group, this is a HUGE change. As expected, younger children are still figuring out their emotions and what activities they like and dislike – which can make it challenging to manage a group of 30 youngsters. I will say, though, that I have loved every second of my time with them, no matter how challenging or confusing it can feel. One thing that I have noticed, though, is that they are teaching me so much about compassion and selflessness.

One particular story sticks out that I honestly can’t stop sharing with people. One little boy who just finished kindergarten this year comes to camp every day sad that he has to leave his mom. When I came into camp on Thursday, he was sad to the point of being inconsolable; no redirection was helping him. After trying to redirect him many times, I finally said “why don’t we color our moms pictures so they will know how much we love and miss them while we are at camp.” Through this activity, he was able to calm himself down and still acknowledge that he missed his mom. Some of the little girls at camp asked him if they could join in coloring and he said yes. What one little girl said stuck out to me in terms of the magnitude of love that these children have for others. While making her card, the little girl said “I’m going to write ‘dear mom, you never have to give me anything because you are already my everything.’” This moment left me speechless, and almost a little jealous that I didn’t come up with that myself. The display of love each camper, not just these three children, shows for their family and friends is truly touching. It’s unconditional and so giving. Children display it towards each other, too. When one child cries, there are at least 4 others who ask if everything is ok and want to know what they can do to help. I think we should all be more like children in this way – loving others for the sake of someone else’s well- being and asking nothing in return. I’m jealous that children can be so adorable AND selfless all at once.