Coming to Chicago, my life felt utterly different. Growing up in a rural town in Ohio, all I have known is cornfields, pastures, and knowing every neighbor. While those things definitely have their advantages and disadvantages, pulling up to my apartment was exciting. I honestly felt as if I didn’t deserve to be getting the treatment of living in the Loop. This was just the beginning of my getting acclimated to the city. Part of my excitement soon turned into frustration as the first place I went to buy milk charged $5.00 a gallon. Nevertheless, I knew once I established a routine (and found a reasonably priced grocery store) I would begin to feel more at home.
The second day in Chicago was a day preparing me to navigate the city. I practiced my route to work, taking the brown line to and from Heartland Alliance. Heartland Alliance is an organization where many CAPS fellows have worked before. Their tagline “Ending Poverty” illustrates the broad range of services the non-profit offers. The refugee and immigrant community services (RICS) office, which I am working in for the summer, helps 
refugees, immigrants, and asylees integrate in the United States. As a public health major, helping program participants access all of these services is vitally important to promote health amongst the population.
Arriving at my first day of work, about 20 participants sat in the lobby waiting to go on an employment trip, looking to get their first job in the United States. It became clear that this would not be an average internship, but an opportunity unparalleled. As with most placements, the first day consisted of getting accustomed to the office and doing necessary paperwork to ensure I’m not a felon. My co-workers were wonderfully accommodating. They invited me to lunch and gave me a complete rundown of all of the best deals in the neighborhood. As the afternoon came around, my work began to slow. This was not because there was little to be done, but the opposite. My boss and co-workers were extremely busy and did not have long chunks of time to dedicate to training an intern.
As the week has gone on, I have started to pick up on quite a bit. I have had the chance to help out the organization by creating case files, going on home visits, traveling with a family to pick up prescriptions, amongst many other activities. For someone who has only been to Chicago twice before and never using public transportation, I now feel as if I have been doing so for years. Looking forward, I am excited to see where the next nine weeks take me. Acting as an assistant case manager, I will have the opportunity to work with numerous families and learn about the rigorous, and at times defeating, process people go through for a better life in the United States.
My life feels dramatically different than a week ago in my hometown. Living on my own for the first time, in the third biggest city in the country, with no pressing matters outside of work, I’m undeniably gaining a new perspective on the world. This inspirational work will be guiding me this summer. Although there is no guarantee that this is the workplace, lifestyle, or city I want to end up in, I nonetheless know I am humbled by the work I will be doing this summer. By the end I hope to see in a new light.
-Ty Snarr, Heartland Alliance