As I was speaking with my CAPS alumni mentor this past week, he shared a story and the essence of this story is to be content with letting the world come to you, which is exactly the point my mentor was trying to get across as I expressed the somewhat indecisiveness I have towards my career plan. He goes on to share a story about a woman who was riding on the train and received a call from her boss asking her to contact someone.  Overwhelmed with yet another task to complete, she happened to look up from her phone, gaze down the aisle of the train car, and to her dismay see the person she was asked to contact. A perfect example of letting the world come to you.  

Oftentimes as college students I think we are taught to be proactive, network, and seek out great resume building experiences, but I also think it is so incredibly important to let opportunities come to you.  While I believe that taking those actionary measures yourself is crucial, I am learning that being patient can also lead me to paths I may not have considered.  Being a young professional is no easy task and navigating the workforce can be difficult when some of us are still grappling with what we envision our future career to look like.  

At the ripe age of 18, we are asked to determine a major that consequently may determine our future career and the rest of our lives. While college is not the path that all high school graduates take, there is still an expectation that future plans be decided on.  Pressure to choose a discipline that will be fruitful and rewarding, the fear of losing interest, and the expectations to succeed at a high level have real effects on a young person. And yes, I understand that students have an opportunity to change their majors if they do not see themselves working in that field in the future.  Truthfully, I was one of those students.  The uncertainty that looms entering college can still exist getting ready to leave college. 

Fast forward two years later after one major change and as I enter my senior year of college, the decisions I have to make as a soon-to-be graduate are quite similar to the ones I had to make when I was navigating the college space.  The question is now – what do you really want to do with your life? I contemplate this question quite often and I get frustrated because the questions do not end there.  The internal dialogue I have with myself comes with bouts of uncertainty, periods of hope, and sometimes feelings of content.  However, I face the same challenge I did entering the workforce as I did entering college which is defining what I want to do.  

At the nucleus of the CAPS fellow program and the Institute of Leadership and Service is the idea of defining one’s purpose and calling.  I think this program has been such a formative experience for me in that I have been able to define partially what I want to do in life.  While those plans are still partially unexplored on top of being uncertain, I gained a knowledge of an industry that I otherwise would not have had the opportunity to and for that I am grateful.  I realized that it is okay to not be consumed with what my next step will be and to not constantly search for what I think I need.  Maybe what I actually need is to just let the world come to me and take a moment to look up and see if what I need is actually a train car away.  

We think we know what we want, but the world is actually showing us what we need.  At a young age, our future is already being played out in front of us and it is up to us to decide what road we want to take, but I think it is important to look up and look around to see what it is we actually need to move forward.

I have just finished up week 6 of my fellowship at The Village at Rockville (TVAR) with 2 weeks left to go. It’s rather surreal. Yesterday feels like my first day, yet I’ve learned so much since then. Admittedly, the first several weeks were quite difficult. I tried to be optimistic, but a huge part of me felt like a failure. I struggled to communicate effectively with my supervisor and thus I didn’t know what was required of me, let alone when or how I should go about doing it. That being said, I knew deep down that this experience was stretching me in the best way. 

A big part of this discomfort, I think, was transitioning from an educational setting to a work setting. As someone who has always felt comfortable in school, adjusting to work life was uncomfortable to say the least. As an illustration, in school, you’re assigned with projects with clear instructions and deadlines. You go to class for a set period of time then have free time to study, go to extracurriculars, or work a part-time job. The 9-5 life, on the other hand, is entirely different. For starters, there’s the 8 hour block staring at a computer screen with the occasional lunch and 10-minute break. Then there’s meeting your coworkers, figuring out who can act as a mentor when you have a question (I always have a lot), and learning how to ask the right questions. To succeed, I had to become much better at a variety of things I did not previously have to do (e.g. constantly following up, strategizing how to improve communication, taking intentional breaks, guiding a conversation in the right direction). While this led to several uncomfortable “growth” weeks, I am finally starting to feel more comfortable in my shoes. Further, I have realized this experience is only the tip of the iceberg; the beginning of figuring out what I want my life to look like after I finish graduate school. 

In addition to helping me improve my soft skills and adapt to work culture, this fellowship has helped me realize some new interests. You see, going into this summer, I was dead set on working at The Village at Orchard (or TVOR as they call it). I wanted to be on the clinical side, helping to set up a clinic at that location. With the onset of COVID-19, however, my plans changed. Suddenly, TVOR was unable to take me on remotely, and I was moved to TVAR. Although I was hesitant at first (the role seemed to business-y to me), I have since surprised myself by thoroughly enjoying the big picture work I get to do. For example, I have gotten to work on TVAR’s master plan (aka what they want their organization to look like in the next 5-10 years) and their strategic plan (smaller goals that help drive the master plan). This work has helped me understand the complexity, time, and effort that goes into an organization’s future and the challenging decisions that must be made. It’s also given me the opportunity to work with a bunch of the senior leadership team (directors of marketing, nursing, dining, sales, and philanthropy, just to name a few). As a result of these experiences, I’ve started considering the ways in which business shapes health care (and vice versa), and I’ve been hoping that some of my health policy courses will touch on this. Anyway, this is just a little bit about what I have been up to this summer, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Overall, this experience has been both challenging and unexpected, but also extremely rewarding and enlightening!

June 1st marked the beginning of my internship at National Lutheran Communities and Services at The Village at Rockville location.  I am embarking on an 8 week journey and diving right into the intricacies and nuances of the senior living industry.  While having no experience within the field, many questions loom through my mind and I find myself overwhelmed with the thoughts and uncertainties I have in regards to the work I am being asked to complete.  Getting to know team members and discussing critical components and future plans of the organization through a computer screen with a grainy picture all while troubleshooting poor internet connection is a struggle I am sure many of us are facing today.  There is something to be said about the human interaction and social conversations that occur in the workplace compared to dialogue between two computers 1,500 miles away. 

“Make sure you put yourself on mute”, “Don’t ask an obvious question”, “Take all the information you can in” are common statements I make to myself in an effort, in my mind, will make me seem responsible and respectful.  However, through these efforts, I am choosing to be silent and making the choice to not ask questions and provide input.  I hover over the unmute microphone feature waiting for a moment of silence to jump in, but inevitably I accidentally cut someone else off and say “Oh, I’m sorry go ahead!” and eventually I am left with a multitude of questions and thoughts that I failed to ask and share.  I become frustrated with myself because I did not have the confidence to speak up, but the thing is I know my words have value.  However, I cannot help but to stop and think that while I know my voice has value, why is it that we as a society cannot value the voices of our Black community?  It is one thing to be silent, but it is of another magnitude to be silenced.  

In the recent social climate with the Black Lives Matter movement and addressing the systemic racism and social injustices that are so evident in today’s society, I learned that it has been my privilege to stay silent.  However, if I have learned anything through these past few months following this movement and conversation, it is that I have to use my voice.  Acknowledging my privilege and biases and the stereotypes that are so ingrained in our society’s being is one step in becoming aware of the inequalities that perpetuate the racism that exists today.  An internal dialogue is crucial when addressing various injustices because society created this issue and to be more specific, white people created this issue.  I have a privilege as a white woman that the Black community does not.  Being a white woman, I am not exposed to the slandering comments, presumptive stereotypes, and the belittling microaggressions, but it is vital that I use my voice and privilege to support the Black community and demand change. I understand that I will never understand what it means to be a Black person in today’s society.  

I have a privilege as a white woman to stay silent because my race is not at jeopardy of discrimination, but I believe it begins with acknowledging your privilege and using your voice effectively to eliminate the injustices and racism within the Black community and other communities of minorities.

Our voices are not necessarily meant to call out those who are being silent as the path they are choosing to take in creating change may look different from the way others are, but our voices are meant to amplify those who are being oppressed.  Having meaningful conversations with peers, friends, and families can create a dialogue that has intentional action supporting it.  

No longer will I toggle over the microphone feature in my own life in fear of speaking out instead I will use my voice effectively and productively to address my own thoughts, words, and actions, but also to have conversations with others to listen to various experiences and effect a lasting change that is integral to the progression of this country.

Now is the time to unmute ourselves all while listening and being empathetic to the voices that have been silenced for far too long.

Leading up to the start of my fellowship on June 1st and in the weeks since then, our country has gone through some tremendously difficult times. From the COVID-19 pandemic to the loss of George Floyd and multiple other Black lives, we have been challenged as a society to reflect, speak up, and take action. While many aspects of these recent events have been painful and there’s clearly much work to be done, I feel blessed to be a CAPS fellow during this time. To work with a not-for-profit organization that prioritizes social justice and serving its communities. And to be part of an incredible group of CAPS fellows with whom I get to reflect with each week. Additionally, I’ve found that I’m really enjoying my work and that it’s already informing the type of courses I’d like to take when I start my master’s degree in public health this fall. Now I’m sure you’re wondering, what exactly is my fellowship? This summer, I’m working at one of the sites of National Lutheran Communities & Services called The Village at Rockville. The Village at Rockville is a CCRC, or continuing care retirement community, meaning that it offers multiple levels of care to its residents. These levels of care include independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing, among others.

As part of my objectives for this summer, I am exploring trends in the senior living industry such as the growing need for affordable housing and the increasing desire for independent living units and high-end services. As someone who is entirely new to the senior living industry, I’m loving learning about everything from terminology to Medicaid/Medicare to how to create a master plan. This fellowship has not come without challenges, however. For one, I did not expect that it would be so difficult to adjust to a typical 9a-5p schedule. In addition, there have been times where I feel silly on a call because I don’t know an acronym (apparently SNFs means skilled nursing facilities) or when I’ve found myself frustrated by the complexity of health insurance and healthcare regulations. Further, at times, I’ve found it challenging to communicate effectively. That being said, I know this fellowship is and will continue to be an excellent opportunity for growth. This is my first time doing remote work, but I’m positive it won’t be my last. Thus, learning how to schedule my day, communicate through video conferencing platforms, and collaborate from a distance is of utmost importance. In the coming weeks, I’ve challenged myself to reflect deeply on how I communicate- both during this fellowship and in my personal life. Do I really listen? Have I asked fellow employees how they prefer to communicate? Are there creative ways I can overcome communication barriers? So far, I’ve decided that it’s beneficial to be assertive and to ask any and all questions, even if it feels uncomfortable. For example, during a call this past week, I felt unclear about my role in creating a master plan. I vocalized this and asked my supervisor how I could be most helpful, suggesting a few different options. As a result, I walked away from the call having a much better idea of the focus of my research in the next week. While I anticipate that there will be more challenges, I welcome them and look forward to learning from them. As a final note, I’ve also had the chance to meet with a variety of team members at The Village, and I really look forward to working with them, my supervisor, and the other Valpo student at my site, Kiera Pratt.

Until next time,

Christy