Running head: Journals 7, 8, 9 !

Journals 7, 8, 9

Shelby Knotts

Wilmington University

Guided Practicum in Human Services

AHS8100

Linda Payne

Instructor

October 10, 2017

Running head: Journals 7, 8, 9 !2

Week 7

What I have taken from my internship experience thus far is that I definitely want to be

more involved with the human service population, particularly in geriatrics. I am a people person

and want to help those individuals that are in need face-to-face. This internship has shown me all

of the work that goes on behind-the-scenes that non profit organizations have to do. UWDE is a

great non profit organization and helps several populations reach their full potential and I am ex-

tremely fortunate to have this opportunity. My strength is interacting with individuals and I have

known that for quite some time after experiencing different internships throughout my education.

There has been so much valuable information that I have learned while taking my graduate cour-

ses and each course has given me the building blocks towards a successful future. As of today

my tasks were to help one of my colleagues (who is also in the AHS 8100 program), and look up

different companies employee resource groups. We needed to do this research so that we can

consolidate those organizations that do offer these values and can use for future references. At

UWDE they have Affinity Groups that are run through having other companies invest in them

and they include Latino Unido, Proud Council, Revive the Village, Student United Way, Women

United, and Young United Professionals. That task took quite a while because there was not al-

ways a straight search when you pull up an organizations website, you sometimes had to dig for

it. My other task was to do some research for Alva, who is the director of Marketing, in regards

to finding the best deal on a logo tent, large printed photos, and check to see if a certain website

was a legit site or not. Overall the day started out sort of slow but picked up and a lot was ac-

complished.
Running head: Journals 7, 8, 9 !3

Week 8

I decided to go into my internship this past week because although I am up-to-date on

my hours I just would rather stay consistent and be there. Reflecting back on this past week I

have to say that one thing stood out to me. I am working on Constant Contact with Schlonn and

she had sent out two emails to two different employees because they have lists that I need. Both

of the employees (who the emails were sent to) were in their offices and I never received any

emails back so I could not work on my given assignment. I was a bit frustrated because truly all

that they had to do was find the list and send it to me. Talking with the other two interns who are

also in the AHS1800 program, we feel that many of the employees either think we are there to

step on their toes or they just simply do not help when we ask them questions. Its unfortunate

that thus far my internship experience has not been so positive but I am trying to pull through

and take away as much as I can. With all of that said, I do work with Alva Mobley (who is the

head of marketing and communication), Orrin White (assistant director of marketing), and

Schlonn Hawkins (assistant director of marketing and social media), and they all have been

amazing and extremely helpful and grateful for my help. We only have a few weeks left and I am

determined to make them count and leave a great impression for not only myself but as a Wilm-

ington University graduate student.

Week 9

My week started out with finishing up constant contact for Schlonn. I was quite sur-

prised to find how natural the work came to me being that it is a software I am not too familiar

with. The feeling I got once I finished was a sense of accomplishment but there is still more that
Running head: Journals 7, 8, 9 !4

needs to be done but feeling confident going into it definitely helps things. My next task was to

research drawstring bags for Alva and being that the order was at 6,000 bags I wanted to be sure

that I shopped around for the best deal. I am not sure of UW budget in regards to marketing but

being that it is a non-profit organization, it is important to keep in mind the price and any promo-

tions that are going on. Once I completed that I helped Orrin count out pledge forms for the Ap-

poquininimink School District. My job was to count out however many pledge forms were need-

ed for a school and this was a time sensitive task because Orrin had to speak about possible do-

nations to the UWDE. What I have taken away from this week is that all of the behind-the-scenes

work that goes into running a non-profit organization is so detrimental in getting the name Unit-

ed Way of Delaware out there and receiving as many donations/pledges that they can. One other

thing that stuck out to me was that I was not alone counting all of those pledges out, Orrin sat

right next to me helping which just goes to show you that no matter what your title is, some peo-

ple are just humble and happy to receive extra help.