So I get on the CTA Blue Line, sunglasses on my head, planner and pen in my purse, and cellphone GPS ready to guide me once I get at my stop. I couldn’t look like I didn’t know where I was going; city people know when you aren’t from the city. Fortunately, I found Erie Neighborhood House no problem. In fact, I was 45 minutes early… you don’t want to be late on the first day. But I also had not intended to be that early. I met with Micaella and Emily, the two women who will be serving as my supervisors this summer. So far so good. I later met Jane and Stephanie, two other women who I will be working with this summer too. Okay, I can roll with this. I got a good feeling about being here. At the conclusion of my first day, I asked Micaella if I should meet at her office the following day. She immediately corrected me, “our office.”

I have been at Erie Neighborhood House in Chicago working with the Health and Leadership Programs (HLP) Department for two weeks. I immediately felt welcomed and a part of the team. I do not feel like an “intern” – getting coffee and making copies – but instead I am completing tasks and brainstorming programming ideas that will impact the lives of the community we serve.

West Town, one of the location where I am working this summer, is a predominantly Latino community. On my second day at Erie, Jane and I spent about an hour and a half creating a summer program for 7th graders in the area. I found myself pulling from not only my social work knowledge, but from my programming experience from when I worked as a Resident Assistant in the residence halls. It was super cool! I am sure many undergraduate students can relate to this feeling. While you are in school and taking classes related to your major or not, you find yourself questioning, “Will I ever actually use this?” Before heading to Erie I was terrified that all of my knowledge would fly out the window; that I would not remember anything that would help me at this placement. I was definitely a pleasant surprise to see that this was not the case!

In addition to West Town, I will be spending the other half of my time at Erie’s Little Village location also serving a predominantly Latino community. I am still acclimating and finding my role at this location, but from the moment I walked into the building I knew that powerful, impactful work was taking place all around me; I could feel it. I am very excited to see what I can contribute to this energy at Erie House in Little Village.

I get off the CTA Blue Line back at my home stop. Shortly after, my parents come to pick me up and of course they ask, “How was your day? What did you do?” While I would love to explain to them how cool the women I work with are and how similar our personalities are, or the conversations I had about advocacy, future plans, and not needing to know what I want to do for the rest of my life, or even about how effective and important the work we are doing is, I simply respond with, “It was good. I worked on programs today and met some of the participants in the programs.” It would be quite a long conversation if I wanted to express to them just how cool Erie House is and all the things I have been learning!

As the summer continues, I look forward to understanding more about Erie House’s work and its impact on the community we serve. I am excited to get to know Micaella, Emily, Jane, and Stephanie better and to work with them – not as an “intern”, but as a part of the Erie House team.