My last full day at EMPOWER Porter County was a beautiful summer day. The sun was shining, there was a cool breeze, and beautiful cotton candy clouds littered the blue sky. My supervisors, Heather and Kaye, decided to take me and my coworker, Faith, to lunch in order to celebrate our last day together as a staff. Panera in hand, we sat outside to enjoy our meal. It was at this time that Heather asked us the question:

“So what do you two think you learned most from your time with us?”

I mulled the question over in my mind as I chewed my flat-bread. I looked out at the businesses across the street from us. Parking lots filled with nice cars and people with full wallets, ready to spend their paychecks on haircuts, electronics, mac n’ cheese, or some craft supplies. If my time at EMPOWER had taught me anything, it’s that not everyone has those opportunities, and as I finished my lunch and felt my stomach filling, I remembered the stories I had heard of kids going to school hungry, or being made fun of for only having one T-shirt. EMPOWER made me aware of my own privilege and blessings in my life. I had a great education, great parents, and great mentors. But not everyone has those gifts. Some people have to work hard everyday in order to learn, care, and survive. And some of them have to start learning these difficult lessons when they’re no older than six. When I was six, I worried about which episode of “Rugrats” would be on when I got home from school.

My point is, it’s easy to forget that people struggling to succeed actually exist. In the Valpo campus bubble we get caught up in getting a good grade on a paper, or getting that one really cute girl to notice us, when down the street there is a seven year old kid who has to take care of his/her younger siblings because mom is at work. My time at EMPOWER made those struggles tangible for me. I learned not every character is the same. Not every story has the same starting chapter.

I also learned that people can be more interesting than any character I could ever come up with. In the many meetings we had as a staff, we met with CEOs, program directors, professors, doctors, pastors, and parents. It was easy to assume what each meeting would be like, how everyone would behave, the pleasantries, the facades. But what made the meetings exciting to me was how every person was such a character. They told jokes and stories that made me understand why they do the work they do. They made funny facial expressions and asked questions. They were real people. It’s always so easy from the outside looking in to identify somebody from their title. “I’m the CEO of the local YMCA.” But his name is Bob, he likes to wear polos, and tell a lot of jokes and talk about sports. He’s not just a CEO, he’s a person with feelings and motivations just like anyone else. The superintendent isn’t just in charge of the school district. She cares about each and every kid. She is a Green Bay Packers fan and when she couldn’t find her flyswatter, she chased a fly around the office with a toy baseball bat. It’s these unique stories and quirks that made my experience at EMPOWER so rewarding. I think it’s so easy for us to forget that people are people, and not just the positions they hold or the profession they follow.

So as I swallowed my last bite of flat-bread and cleared my throat, I looked at Heather and Kaye and said:

“Ooof…where do I begin?”

Being someone who is naturally nocturnal, (especially in the summertime) the first day of my internship at EMPOWER began with me cringing as my alarm assaulted my sleeping ears. When I finally got around, ate some breakfast, and headed out for the day, I realized this was a routine I could get used to. The morning air was warm, yet refreshing, and my walk to work was a nice way to start my day.

When I got to the office I met up with my co-fellow, Faith, and we sat down with our bosses Heather and Kaye as they told us what they wanted us to work on during our time there. Faith and I are working on a project where we are researching different youth development programs throughout the country in order to see how effective that type of programming is, and then design our own program. The first question we had was, what is youth development?

The idea behind youth development is that a committee of teenagers (typically middle of high school) work together with community leaders in order to design programming meant for teens. The idea here being that if teenagers design programming for their own age demographic, it will be more effective and appealing to their peers. I was anxious to get started, because it sounded like this might be hard to find research on.

Boy was I wrong.

Right away I found multiple case studies and files that showed youth development programming from all around the country. From New York to Alabama it seemed like every state department had made multiple youth development programming efforts, and it was so exciting to start connecting the dots with what the most successful programs had in common.

The thing that was the most exciting for me was the amount of trust and freedom Heather and Kaye put into me and Faith. They were/are always open to our questions, but for the most part we are free to work on our own and in whatever ways we see fit in order to research and design this program. I loved being able to just put in some earbuds, buckle down, and start sifting through the multiple pages of research I had found.

As we continue our research, Faith and I have weekly meetings with Heather and Kaye in order to make sure we’re all on the same page and finding what information they would like us to find. It’s nice to have supervisors that allow us so much freedom, but also communicate effectively so that we always know what they expect from us.

One of the other great things about the beginning of my internship is that it had really opened my eyes to youth development programming. I’ve had discussion with my mom and my friends in the Army who all use multiple youth development programs in their jobs. My mother, being a social worker, leads many youth development programs that help foster children make the conditions in foster homes better for other kids. My friends in the Army work with youth development committees in elementary schools to educate kids about hard work and physical fitness.

So far things have been off to a great start at EMPOWER. My research is enlightening in its own right, but the discussions and conversations I’ve had with some of my friends and family as a result of my work is even more rewarding as I learn more about the world I live and work in. I can only see greater things on the horizon for this summer.