I’ve been an intern at EMPOWER Porter county for a little over two weeks now and I feel like I’ve already really gotten in the groove of things. My desk is equipped with everything I could possibly need (pens, sticky notes, stapler, paper clips, WhiteOut, and, of course, granola bars). While EMPOWER Porter County was my first pick for an internship this summer, I was slightly bummed that I’d be in Valpo all summer. I was born and raised, and am still being educated in this town. When I got to the office, however, all of my fears disappeared.

The EMPOWER Porter County office is tucked right downtown at the corner of Franklin and Jefferson in a office building. So I got to stay in my hometown and still get the slightly city vibe that I thought I’d be missing out on. Sure, downtown Valpo is no Chicago or DC, but it’s probably as close as I’d personally enjoy. I love being able to take the elevator down to the first floor and walk down the street to grab coffee or lunch. Sometimes, when my brain is mush halfway through the day, I’ll take a stroll around the block and feel completely recharged. Okay, so I’ve explained how wonderful the office and surroundings are, but what about the actual work? Is it possible that it’s just as good? Yes!

The first day at EMPOWER, my supervisors Heather and Kaye told my fellow intern, Mychal, and me a little more about the organization. Then, they said that we’d be working on the new youth initiative and to get researching! I’m pretty sure I spent the first two days looking up the entirely wrong things but after many questions and conversations with my supervisor, I started to understand what my task was. It took me a while to figure out how to organize all of the research and information I’d gathered into something that I could work with. For whatever reason, even though I’m glued to my phone like everyone else, I can’t work with electronic copies. When I write out lists or take notes, I have to use a pen and paper. That way I know where it is and can add notes wherever I want. Therefore, I decided to start printing out all of my research and bits and pieces of different curricula for programs similar to what we want ours to be. I went through the hundreds of papers and put them into folders (yes, real folders) organizing them into different elements of our curriculum. That is when I really started to feel like I knew what I was doing and how to do it. Since then, I have been writing a curriculum and developing a program. Meeting with my supervisors is extremely helpful because they can tell me when to scale back or put me in a different direction. I’m very grateful for their guidance and encouragement. Also, even though I was terrified the first two days, I think it was good that they just let me “dig in” at first and try to figure it out on my own (and realize that I need to just ask!).

I’m very excited to continue developing the program and working with community leaders to better our community and promote the positive development in youth

.  My desk and part of the office. Isn’t it adorable!?