Views from the Cube: National Association for Community Health Centers

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internship, Northwestern, public health, SESP, summer 2016, Views from the Cube

Laura (SESP ’17) spent her summer supporting advocacy initiatives at health centers with the NACHC.

Laura Hefner (SESP ’17), a social policy major, interned at The National Association for Community Health Centers (NACHC) this summer. She is interested in pursuing a career in public health.

Where are you interning this summer? Describe your internship role.

This summer, I interned with NACHC in their department of Grassroots Advocacy. As an intern, my duties included developing resources to promote advocacy initiatives at health centers, supporting time-sensitive advocacy requests to the advocacy network, assisting in the planning of National Health Center Week, and collecting and organizing health center advocacy best practices through direct outreach to health center advocates.

How did you learn about your internship? What was your internship search and application process like?

In the summer of 2015, I completed my SESP practicum (a quarter-long required internship program for all SESP students) in Washington, DC, which I really enjoyed. I knew that I wanted to return to DC for summer 2016, so I got an early start on the application process for public health internships in the DC area back in January. I reviewed the information on the SESP website about internships other students have done, but I also went online and looked up as many public health internships in Washington DC as I could find. Because the DC area is competitive for summer internships, I sent out over 20 cover letters and resumés. I also interviewed for a couple positions in Chicago as well. I had five interviews for DC positions and was hired after two phone interviews with NACHC. My first phone interview at NACHC was with their internship coordinator and the second was with the director of the Grassroots Advocacy department, the division I was applying for, as well as with the directors of a few other departments. Several of the internships, including NACHC, required a writing sample along with my resumé and cover letter. The application process was arduous but well worth the effort. Even after I accepted the position, I still heard back from several programs.

What were your main internship responsibilities, from daily tasks to bigger projects?

Every day, I helped out with approving local events for our annual National Health Center Week celebration. I also organized submissions for the National Health Center Week picture and video contest and made sure that all submissions complied with contest rules. I wrote a few blogs for their website about individuals selected as Outstanding Advocates of the month, created a couple infographics, and wrote a couple one-pagers for their website. I worked on two big projects at the end of my internship: One was a podcast about engaging individuals in the health center movement, and the other was a final presentation for the entire department on training and adult learning principles. In between the writing and bigger projects, I also was asked to do other smaller jobs on an as-needed basis, like data entry.

What have you enjoyed most about your internship?

NACHC arranged for all of the interns to visit three health centers in the DC area in June and July. These visits gave me the chance to see in-person how the work I am doing at NACHC impacts the work being doing on the ground.  I have also especially enjoyed writing the blog posts highlighting the outstanding advocates in the health center movement. It has been inspiring for me to hear about the work that these individuals have been doing for the health center movement and to see how passionate they are about health centers.

What advice do you have for making the most out of an internship?

If you have the chance, conduct informational interviews with other staff members in your office. I found this to be invaluable in learning about topics that I was interested in but not directly working on through my internship projects. I would also say to try and go above and beyond what is asked of you in the office. Your supervisors will appreciate your extra effort and they will go out of their way to make it a rewarding experience for you. Finally, if it’s not offered to you, feel free to ask your supervisors for feedback on your internship performance. This is the only way you will know if you’re meeting their expectations, and if there is anything you need to change.

SIGP Views from the Cube: Spark!Lab at the National Museum of American History

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Northwestern, SESP, SIGP, summer internship, summer internship grant program

Abigail Kutlas (SESP ’18) is a Learning Sciences major at Northwestern. She enjoys studying education, especially teaching best practices, and plans to pursue a career that aligns with those interests. Abigail is a 2016 Summer Internship Grant recipient.

This summer, I was an intern in Spark!Lab, which is part of the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. Spark!Lab is a hands-on invention space geared toward six- to 12-year-olds and their families. There are activity tables throughout the space that present problems centered on a theme (right now, it’s “Planet”) and give them materials to create an invention that might solve the problem (like something to take plastic out of the ocean). My two fellow interns and I were asked to complete individual projects related to family engagement, and we also spent about half of the time working directly with the visitors in Spark!Lab. Being out in the space allowed us to try out engagement techniques, test the different activities and get feedback on how accessible or intuitive they were.

When I was hunting for summer internships, I knew I wanted a unique experience that would be difficult to replicate through my extracurricular or volunteer work. I Googled “Smithsonian internships” on a whim and did some research before deciding to apply for education-focused internships at four museums. The National Museum of American History had internship positions in almost every department and the website was a little confusing, so I ended up calling the intern manager and talking to him about my options and application materials.

I am really proud of the way my family engagement project turned out. I worked with the Smithsonian’s Office of Accessibility to create sensory kits for Spark!Lab. The kits include resources like visual schedules, sensory tip sheets and fidgets, and they’re designed to help our visitors with sensory processing disorders and intellectual disabilities feel more comfortable in the space. My mentors were really excited about the idea of making Spark!Lab more welcoming to all families, and they are now looking for ways to take my project further and make our space more accessible to visitors with physical disabilities. The woman I worked with in the Office of Accessibility said Spark!Lab is the first space in any of the 19 Smithsonian units to have permanent accessibility resources available, and I am really proud for having had a hand in starting that.

I’m thankful that I got my first taste of the museum world at one of the most respected museums on the planet. A career in museum education can take many forms, and my mentors in Spark!Lab were so supportive as I explored those options through informal interviews with them and other Smithsonian employees. Although I’m not sure I’ll pursue a career in the museum field, this internship taught me to look at education through so many different lenses – lenses I can carry into any future job I have shaping tomorrow’s leaders and innovators!

Views from the Cube: South African Human Rights Commission Intern Sarah Watson

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intern, internship, SAHRC, SESP, social policy, South Africa, South African Human Rights Commission, WCAS, Weinberg

What’s the view from Sarah’s cube? The South African Human Rights Commission.

This summer I have had the pleasure of working in the Legal Services Department of the South African Human Rights Commission. Living in Cape Town, I’m stationed in the Western Cape Provincial Office. The office is separated into the Parliamentary Research Unit, and the Legal Services Unit. As a Social Policy major but someone who is also pre-law, I was having a hard time choosing which area I wanted to work in for the summer. I decided that having the legal experience would be great, plus they were shorter staffed in this area. I’m really glad that I decided to work in Legal Services. As a result, I have learned so much about myself, human rights work, and South Africa throughout my internship experience.

On a basic level, working in an office in a different country is extremely different. I’ve had to learn a very different office culture. Things are much more lax here. People come to work later, take smoke breaks frequently, chat often in the hallways/offices, and personal lives are often discussed. Getting to know the nuances of a different culture has been extremely interesting.

Adding on yet another layer, working in a government office has it’s own challenges. The head office is in Johannesburg, so any type of administrative things have to be handled through them. This means that when our server goes down, we have to wait for someone from Johannesburg to come fix it, or even just call us back. Being a government office also means we are subject to strict and routine audits. Files must be immaculate and there are numerous administrative steps that have to be followed for each action taken on a case. Reports on all cases have to be filed every month, and we are supposed to close 25% of our cases each quarter. Considering the Western Cape Office has one of the highest volumes of complaints, this can put a lot of stress on the office.

On top of all of that, is the actual work itself. In a country like South Africa, still recovering from the Apartheid era, there is still so much work to be done. Like the remnants of slavery and Jim Crow on disadvantaged populations in the United States, South Africa is struggling in many of the same ways. We deal with complaints ranging from unlawful evictions, hate speech, discrimination, housing/basic needs, and more. The work is plentiful, and extremely draining. Sometimes people have traveled hours from townships just to talk to us. Going on site inspections to townships has not only given me insight for our cases, but has also given me incredible perspective on my own life and privilege.

As far as my work goes, a typical day for me at SAHRC consists mainly of consultations. We don’t take appointments, so anyone off the street can walk in the office to consult with a legal officer. When not consulting, I spend a lot of time drafting correspondence with complainants that updates them on the status of their case. I also write allegation letters to respondents, which inform them of the complaint against them and requests a written response. I’m also often tasked with doing legal research for cases. As a culminating project I’m writing a final report for a case that outlines the facts of the case, legal framework, legal analysis, and a final decision.

Not only have I gotten extensive legal experience, but I’ve also had the opportunity to get to know and work within different communities. I’m so thankful for the 2 months that I’ve spent here at the SAHRC and hope that I can return some day.