A semester (or part of one) in an evening

I have a tendency not to devote attention to something if there is not an immediate and pressing need, or if there are other items that are more prominent in their timeliness. As a result, here's my semester internship (more or less a few mundane details) in one post.

For my internship I am working at Rock of Ages Valley View Retirement Village outside of McMinnville. It's a Mennonite-run facility that has been constructed more or less from the ground up in the past 40 years or so. All I really knew walking in to my first meeting with my supervisor was that I'd be working with their scheduling system, and moving it from a handwritten method to a computerized method. I wasn't really overly nervous about it at first, because I am comfortable with computers and working in an office setting. When I walked out of that meeting, however, I was substantially more anxious. First, while I was prepared for an office professional dress code, I was not aware that I would not be allowed to wear slacks, or any kind of pants, for that matter. I decided I wouldn't let it be an issue, that I could work with it and get used to it. The most unsettling revelation was that the person who was in charge of all the schedule not only was not familiar with computers at all, but had no idea that there was even going to be a switch to a computerized system. All I could think was "Oh dear. This is going to be a long semester. I hope she doesn't end up hating me. I hope she doesn't already hate me."

The second time I went in was considerably better, because I was able to meet the CEO of RoA and sit down with my supervisor, and the woman in charge of scheduling, and learn about how their organization is run and the types of services they provide through their M.A.I.D.S. program (Mennonite Assisting In-home Development for Seniors). Since none of them knew the program they had for use, my first task was to figure out how it worked and put in the client and employee information. We ended up deciding collaboratively that I would spend the next few weeks putting in a previous month's appointments and figuring out the simplest shortcuts so I could then pass that information on to my supervisor and the other office women.

The next few weeks were... well, in a word, boring. I went in, spent anywhere from four to 6 hours alone in a room in front of a computer. There was a window, but the only view I had was of the roof of the same building across a small courtyard, with a sliver of cloudy sky above it. I got a lot more comfortable with having to wear a long skirt every day, and spent some time chatting with my supervisor about the history of RoA and their philosophy behind the care they provide. I was a little surprised to learn that the Mennonites at RoA are far more conscientious about the environment than most people I encounter on a daily basis. In retrospect, this makes sense, given the fact that many of them are traditionally farmers. It was one of those small heartening things that made me feel like maybe my major isn't useless after all. It was nice to be able to make the connect between my major and my internship, because there isn't much natural overlap there to begin with (Computer scheduling and environmental studies generally don't go hand-in-hand).

We'll continue this later.

Kelsi