Wow, I can’t believe it’s already my last week at Heartland and in the Chicago area. I’m purposely refraining from reading my first blog post so that I can read both side by side and see how much I’ve grown. Because yes, I truly feel like I’ve grown. I remembered being intimidated and even a little terrified my first few weeks: there were so many heavy tasks I was thrown into with little to no instruction, so many language and culture barriers, so many weights I didn’t feel strong enough not to get crushed under. But now, I feel completely transformed. I’m proud to say that I’ve developed the skill of communicating effectively with non-English speakers to a level in which I consider it one of my strengths. I feel comfortable coming into the office each day instead of a little apprehensive. Both the newer interns and the refugees come […]

As the first CAPS Fellow to officially start her placement, I am already entering my third week at my placement site. I work at Heartland Alliance Refugee and Immigrant Community Services under their Resettlement & Placement department in Chicago, which works with refugees and immigrants during their first 90 days in the country. I entered the experience 3 weeks ago both excited and nervous to work with a population I have never worked with before, and in not knowing completely what to expect, I tried my best to keep my mind open.     On day 1, I was already diving in head-first. Within the first half hour, I was on my way to visiting a refugee’s home with my supervisor to make sure they felt properly accommodated. By day 4, I was conducting these home visits on my own, without supervision. The general pace and dynamic of the office […]