One big thing I learned from the evaluation process is that a lot of planning that goes into

the evaluation process. I thought that when you do an evaluation you just think of some
questions and find a time to do the evaluation, but there is a lot more to the process. I had to
research the organization or company I wanted to evaluate. By doing the research I could figure
out what kind of evaluation I wanted to do. I learned that all this information can be very useful
to have before contacting the organization. If you are somewhat knowledgeable about the
organization they will probably be more willing to let you do an evaluation.
This relates to my career interest because I want to work with children and or an
organization such as the dRC (disAbility Resource Center). By doing this evaluation it gave me
more information and sense of what it would be to work for an organization such as the dRC. It
is very easy to say that you want to work with certain people or a certain organization and really
not know about the organization. By researching the organization and talking to the employees
and volunteers I could get a sense of what the organization is really about. By talking to the
employees I can learn about the struggles they may have with the organization and what they like
about working with the organization. By sitting in on meetings and talking to the staff and
volunteers it reaffirmed my belief that I want to work for an organization such as the dRC.
A difficult challenge I had was to contact the organization and explain why I needed to do
the interview and why it could benefit the organization. I do not necessarily like to talk to people
on the phone I much prefer face to face. I also knew from the book that sometime organizations
can be very apprehensive about interviews and think it will impact their organization negatively.
I explained that the evaluation could be very beneficial to the organization. That the evaluation I
wanted to conduct was to inform the public and give them more information about the dRC. For
instance if they are unable to help someone there is usually a reason whether their grants do not

permit it, they do not have the resources or the community does not have the demographics for
helping that person. I wanted to be able to explain this so the public gets a better understanding
of the dRC so they do not think that the dRC cannot help certain people just because they do not
want to. After explaining why I wanted to do the evaluation they were very welcoming to having
me come in and sit in on meetings and talk to the staff and volunteers.
Another challenge was that one of the more important meetings where I would have
received a lot of information was canceled last minute and was not rescheduled until after the
class had ended. Since that meeting was canceled I tried to talk to the staff that would have been
attending the meeting. Another challenge was that a few employees were a little apprehensive at
first when they heard why I was there and when they began to answer my questions. However
once I explained the reason for my evaluation and the questions they seemed more relaxed and
were happy to answer the questions.
The positive aspects of the evaluation were that I learned a lot about the dRC and it
should me it was the great organization I thought it was. I knew about the dRC and its programs
and I wanted to find out more information about the dRC. I found out that the dRC will really do
anything to help their clients. When they are not able to help a client they will refer them to a
sister organization that can help them. The dRC seemed to really care about their clients and
volunteers.
Three things I will take away from this experience is research, being prepared, and
different ways to talk to clients. When working with an organization and or a client it is good to
do some research on the organization or the client and what there problem may be. I know that
sometimes I may not have to do this but when I am able to it may make my job a little easier. I
could more knowledgeable about the organization or client and that might put them a little at

ease. Being prepared means having that information and also knowing that even though I may
have the information the job is not always going to turn out the way I think it will. For instance
when I did the evaluation the meeting was canceled last minute and I had to readjust my plans.
The last way, different ways to talk to clients, can be very useful. When talking to clients even
though I may feel it I should not appear or sound nervous. If I look nervous the client may pick
up on that and become nervous themselves. I should talk and ask questions in a nice even tone
so the client is more likely to respond and answer the questions.