“Everything I Ever Needed to Know, I Learned at my Internship”
Article by Suzy Woltmann
Description:
Skeptics may scoff and critics may chide, but I truly believe that I learned three essential life lessons in the third week of my internship. These lessons came as all significant ones do: not by textbook instruction and lecture, but via experience, life’s greatest teacher.
Lesson number one: You CAN overcome shyness. Approximately halfway through the week, I was stunned with a revelation: by committing myself to a summer of researching social capital, I was slowly but surely building some for myself. This may sound confusing at best, but in between presenting various chapters of Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone and searching for social outlets in schools, I discover myself immersed in a strong team effort. I’ve always been on the shy side, so the presentations required for this internship seemed to me daunting, if not downright frightening. However, after weeks of presenting other peoples’ work, theories, and ideas, I slowly moved on to showcase my own. I now find that I’m not even slightly disturbed at the idea of heading a workshop with the other interns at a Scoping for Success Conference, a prospect that would have sent me quivering to the corner a mere few weeks ago; in fact, I’m actually excitedly anticipating the event. I attribute this to the support and constructive criticism offered daily in this encouraging atmosphere.
Lesson number two: Google is not God. Okay, I’ll admit it: I’m a Googler. If you need to find out your sister’s boyfriend’s cousin’s teacher’s name knowing only the color of his eyes, I can find not only the teacher’s name, but also his address, salary, hair color, and the number of carrots he consumes yearly. Had I been informed simply days ago by a well-meaning friend that I’d find a better search engine than Google, I would have jeered and been forced to shake my head in a derisive manner. However, my Googling world was turned upside down the day we were introduced to the Lit Review. Under the expertise of Amy, our very own office research mastermind, I learned of a secret store of knowledge hidden in my computer - the USF online library. This database contains file upon file of fascinating research dating back years.
Following a communal display of disgust with the FCAT, our group decided to focus our research on high schools, rated on graduation rates rather than on their scores from the dreaded test. We are now researching to see how different factors, such as student attachment, class size, and teacher support weigh in on graduation rates. Our theory is that schools with strong student attachment, maximum teacher support, and modest class size consistently have higher graduation rates. We are now conducting online literature reviews to gain a stronger background in studies on such subjects; the sheer amount of information available in the Lit Review on this specific subject is astonishing.
Lesson number three: Thou shalt not attempt to consume giant Atomic Fireballs. Okay, so perhaps the final tidbit of wisdom I gained has more to do with office etiquette than with said spicy jaw-breaking candy; I learned this week of the virtues of top manners. This week, we met with the dean of FMHI here at USF. In the midst of a discussion about living wills, I spied a jar of candy propped against the wall and, against my better judgment, gave in to the temptation to sneak a fireball into my mouth. Unfortunately, with my impeccable timing, this was the same moment the dean chose to ask my opinion on the rights of incapacitated individuals. To make a long story short, doing a frighteningly accurate impression of a red-faced chipmunk is not the way to go about impressing people at the workplace. I learned this week that, no matter how comfortable you feel at the office, displaying proper professional etiquette at all times is the route to take. This will earn you more respect – and ensure you amnesty from any embarrassing moments such as the one I experienced.
All in all, this week has proved tremendous both in the quality of data the intern team has collected and in personal wisdom I’ve gained, and I am confident that this fortunate trend will continue throughout the summer.
Funding for Academic Year: 2005