My Last Day

Well today was my last day of interning for this summer. Fortunately I was able to go out with a bang. I and seven other CASA volunteers had the privilege of going to the correctional facility in Sheridan for a tour this morning. We got there a bit before 9:00 a.m. and the tour lasted until about 11:30 a.m. It was a fascinating experience. The facility that we toured in Sheridan is a medium security facility yet in contrast to my expectations it really had a rather laid back vibe for a prison. Prisoners walked about fairly freely during passing times and didn't seem very ill tempered.

We saw the educational center, library, recreation gym, the yard, one of the housing blocks, and the woodshop. The gym was very impressive as was the woodshop where toys are made and donated to toys for kids. I learned a lot about prison life and the kinds of choices that lead to it. For my last day it was a really interesting thing to get to do. After we got back my supervisor and others in the office had a going away party for me which was a really nice gesture.

Looking back on the summer I can definitely say that the prison tour was one of the highlights. But it was just another addition to the eye-opening and worthwhile experience that I had this summer with CASA. After interning with CASA I feel more comfortable and sure about my decision to go to law school and I also feel more capable and ready for the challenge. All in all, I am very happy and glad that I had the opportunity to intern with CASA this summer. It was a great experience.

A day in the Parking lot

Last week was the same old routing. I shadowed the physical therapist and assistants, made copies of evaluations for the re-evaluations, picked up the gym, went through exercises with patients and also assisted them when they needed help. One thing that was different was that I got to do a ultra sound on one of the therapist. I had to do it on a therapist due to the fact that I if I were to hurt the patient at all, it would put them at risk of being sued, etc. So I did it on a therapist and learned the technique and not to take it of the skin because it could possible shock them. Also you can't stop or go to slow because it could almost burn the deep muscle. It was a very neat experience and was fun learning something new.

Then on Thursday, I spent almost all of my time out in the parking lot setting up tables and food for the picnic that we organized for the gym members and or faculty. Around 40 members came to the picnic and they all brought some type of side dish. Needless to say, we had a ton of food. South West Physical Therapy put on this picnic to show their appreciation to all the gym members and also to just have a little fun out in the sun. While doing the picnic I also saw some people who you could tell that they hadn't eaten in awhile so we sent them home with some food from the picnic. Its sad to see the poverty around us and what this economy is doing to our community.

After the picnic, I spent the rest of the day picking up and washing all of the dishes that we had used earlier. It was really nice to spend a day out of the office and spend some time with the gym members. It gave me more time to get to know them and find out more about their lives.

End of Internship

Friday was my last official day of internship and it was a truly amazing experience. I will be going in on Monday to say goodbye to the children and the other staff who have made a huge impact on my life. Being an education major who wants to go into the field of autism and special needs, I was able to grasp certain concepts that would be almost impossible to learn in the classroom. Although some days I was just plain exhausted and felt like I could not handle what was going on, I was able to get through and come out with so many learning experiences. One thing that makes me feel more comfortable in my leaving is that the new intern that is taking over is a Linfield alum that I know very well so I will be able to get constant updates on what is going on with the students that I have had the pleasure to spend my summer with. It is honestly very hard to type up my weeks because so many things happen and everyday seems to meld into the same day but I have learned so much and am able to better understand the field that that I want to go in.

8/9-8/20

These last weeks of my internship have continued to be heavily fragmented. I had my wisdom teeth out the 10th so I missed that day and the next. Lars was on location at the Tillamook County fair. For some reason when he isn't in studio, people do not call as much.

But the only time when people call less is when Lars is not doing the show at all. He took a vacation from last Monday to this next Tuesday. It was a lot of work trying to find stories and help the hosts get things organized with times, stories, guests, etc. Also, my co-worker who helps me was out Wednesday and Friday which puts added pressure on my boss and I, especially when Lars isn't in.

Needless to say, these last weeks haven't been as smooth as we'd like. One of the guest hosts had never done the show before and it was really difficult getting everything together for him to make a good show. But my job has stayed the same, but a lot more of my stories are being used and I am still talking to important local and national political figures on the phone, which I am keeping a list of for some sort of future reference if I need it in the future.

Job Shadow

On Monday I had the opportunity to take a break from my CASA duties for the afternoon and job shadow a local court appointed attorney. Janmarie Dielschneider was kind enough to let me follow her around all afternoon and sit in on court. I found it all very fascinating. Up to this point my courtroom time with CASA has only involved family law and not criminal law. On Monday afternoon the docket was filled with, what even Janmarie admitted was a full docket for a Monday, arraignments of individuals who were in custody. These individuals appeared on video as the judge read what they were accused of and set their bail or scheduled them for release. The crimes ranged from small misdemeanors to major felonies. There were cases of criminal mischief and theft all the way up to murder. Even though the procedure for each individual was practically the same, only differing in whether they were to be released or bail posted and trial date set, I was surprised by how interesting it was. There was a full range of reactions from those in custody, ranging from contrite acceptance to absolutely rude indifference resulting in another year in jail for contempt of court! It was even a little tense at times. I really enjoyed it. Janmarie was really helpful and informative about what was going on and gave me her own reactions and thoughts as well. The afternoon made me give more thought, consideration, and interest to criminal law, which I hadn't really thought I possessed prior to Monday!

8/9 - 8/13

Last Week in addition to my usual office duties such as filing case information and going to hearings I finished one of the books that CASA uses as a training and informational tool for its volunteers. The book I read was called Lost Boy and it was written by Brent Jeffs who is a nephew of the former leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The book detailed the abuse and neglect that the author suffered in the FLDS. For those who don't know the FLDS is the fundamentalist sect of the Mormon church which still continues to practice polygamy. I was very surprised to learn of how drastically polygamy affected the families within the church and the extent to which children in the church, especially young boys, were neglected and often forced our of their own families. It was a fascinating read and very eye opening in that it occurs in 21st century America. I would definitely recommend reading it.
This week I am looking forward to job shadowing a couple of attorneys and hopefully getting a good idea of what their day to day lives are like and hopefully some tips on law school as well.

Exception to the Rule

Today was my officially last day of my internship, which was bitter sweet because I am excited for RA camp, but sad to leave my work family behind for a month. I have learned so much from all of my mentors at AKT.

Recently, I learned that in Accounting firms and almost any business there are exceptions to almost every rule. this can be the case in GL coding for expenses. One expense can be one code one time, but the next time it can be something completely different because of the person.

I have learned a lot about working in a CPA firm not just during this internship period, but over the last three years that I have been working for AKT. I have learned how to deal with partners and they people who are constantly not following company policy. I also have learned that company policies are more like guidelines because there is room for interpretation.

I have been training the person who will replace me as Accounts Payable Administrator for a week and a half now. This was a real test of my knowledge to have to train someone on something that I just learned. This was a challenge because she did not realize that I actually knew something about accounting. She did just graduate from Corban with her accounting degree, and I understand that it must be hard to learn something from someone with no credentials and younger than you.

I am very confident after this internship that this is the career for me...maybe not accounts payable, but accounting. This internship will be very valuable for me when I become an auditor. I will know what the accounts payable people go through on a daily basis.

Teaching Experiences

On Friday it was a very big day for me because one of the teachers was gone so I took over for her and was one of the another teachers. I have taught lessons in front of the class before but this was my first time actually being in complete charge and having a lot more authority. I have been having an amazing time learning so many things about different disabilities that children have and how to deal with them. Things are still improving and we have been having some pretty great days with not as many behaviors. There is one child that has been giving me a lot of difficulties and it is becoming a little bit more irritating to deal with, he has Oppositional Defiant Disorder and is a borderline sociopath. I have been learning more ways to deal with his behaviors but sometimes it can be very hard. Overall though this past week has been pretty great and I am continuing to learn about this program.

8/2-8/6

Another disjointed week for us. Lars likes touring state fairs and meeting with listeners so Monday he was out fishing and Friday he was in La Grande at their county fair. Also Friday my boss had appointments so I went from 10-6 and filled in to help run the national show. For some reason, the national show gets a lot fewer calls so to offset that, we schedule a lot of guests. I think that puts more stress on us because when and if people don't answer, especially when the host isn't right there and doesn't know what's going on, it creates chaos. So the national show is somewhat easier because I'm doing a lot less screening, but, as I told my co-worker, I feel like a bounty hunter trying to track people down.

Close to Home

Today I met a women who recently had a brain tumor removed and now she has an infection. The older women had sang at little theater on the bay, and now is restricted minimal activities. She at all times wears a padded helmet, which is very well decorated I may add, due to the fact that she has a small section of her skull missing. Although she is under these circumstances, she is an incredibly positive person. Meeting this woman, really made me stop and think about my friend trent, who is 22 and has just been diagnosed with his second brain tumor and is having surgury the first of the year. This tumor however is 3X the size of the tumor he had when he was 13, although he is continuing to log and work on his families ranch.
I also got to help out introduce a gym member to different equipment and make sure the weight was the correct weight for her. One of the other patients that I help on a regular basis was also in today and we showed her some new exercises, including doing the ladder, and also stepping over cones that were place on the ladder. It is great being able to see how much she has improve since the first time she came in. Besides that though, my day was pretty normal.

Week 7/26-7/30

This week was crazy and really broken up. Monday and Tuesday I did not feel well and just did research from home. Wednesday was normal but Thursday Lars was gone, which slows down the phone calls and makes it reeeeeeeeally boring. Friday and this Monday were worse, as Lars was in Alaska and even less people called and we had only a couple guests. The host was on point with topics but just didn't bring out the passion Lars does so it makes my time go really slow. I have occasionally joined the KXL news staff in their 11 'o clock meeting where they talk about their stories for future segments. It's good experience getting to know them because if I don't get a job with Lars or with my last internship, I need to know as many people as possible. They're all really nice and I assume they like having a young buck in there.

The Prevalence Of Abuse

Last week I had the opportunity to view a documentary on child abuse, primarily sexual abuse, at Juliette's house along with a few CASAs. The documentary was very eye opening. It followed several victims of abuse as they recalled their stories and their journey's through the court system. It was really heartbreaking to see how sexual abuse had wreaked havoc in the lives of the victims. The documentary also revealed the inner pyshe's of some of the offenders as they described their motivation and methods in group therapy sessions. Some of the victims were adults and as they told their stories it was evident that they were stil dealing with incredible conflicts of emotion and pain many years after the abuse occured. It was definitely a sobering experience and one that makes you very wary of how many people there are who have bad intentions. It is unfortunate but the message of the documentary was quite clear in demonstrating that it is very necessary to be vigilant, aware, and careful in order to protect children.

An Average Week

This week as been the same old, same old. Today we started the day out with a meeting and discussed medicare and how it is changing and also how it will affect our company. We also learned about some things that need to be done with more detail, like charting and also some things that would make it easier on the physical therapist, since they are so busy. Today I delivered some gifts to the new doctors at the orthopeadics office, in hope that they will send us some new patients. Also at the meeting we talked about a new physical therapy office that is going in right next door to us, and we discussed how we will have to have better PR and also just a better over all reputation and put ourselves out there and go the extra mile to stay in the number one spot as far as being the best therapy office in town. No shows and cancels have also been at a record low, which is a huge concern. The gym seems slow, however I seem to stay busy with the patients and helping out with the therapist.

Week 7/19-7/23

Basically another week as usually. I talked to a commander on the USS George Washington who is from Oregon. Interestingly, the USS GW was involved in the "war games" Korea, Japan and the US were doing this week in the waters off South Korea. Lars was broadcasting from Vegas Friday so the dynamic was a little different, having to set up a remote, making sure the connections worked, the levels were right. Needless to say it took a lot more work than usual. The guy who is my age and actually works there is starting a summer class and comes in later now which gives me little more Tuesday and Thursday but nothing earth shattering.

Changes that Have Happened

This week was different from last week in a very great way a lot of the imitation problems have stopped due to the new way that the other teachers and I reacted to what has been happening. The little boy I shadow has been getting much better at calming himself down and working on his animal breaths when he feels like he is about to scream. The class dynamic really changed today because today a new student came to camp (she returned home after spending a few months in Korea so a few of the kids already knew her) and the boys did react a little better because of the girl that joined the camp. A lot happens during the three hours that I am at the camp and it gets hectic but I am learning a lot about kids with autism, ODD, Fragile X, undiagnosed behavior issues, and a child that is a borderline sociopath.

Hiring a replacement

During the past week I have been working with my manager to find someone to replace me when I go back to school. This is very interesting to be on the opposite side of the table. On this side you are thinking about the company's needs instead of your own. The major dilemma that we faced was whether to hire someone with lots of accounts payable experience and little education, or to hire someone with no accounts payable experience and college education. I learned through this process that by talking with people in the department the supervisor is better able to make their decision. Ultimately we decided on the person with a college education and no experience.

In a normal interview process at AKT, the interviewee would come back for a second round interview with the CFO and managing partner. This is a unique case because it is a temporary position, so that will not occur.

I will start to train the new person on Wednesday. This will be a real test of the knowledge that I have learned in the two months that I have been doing this job.

Limitations as the Aid

This week I monitored patients and learned what I can and can't do as an aid. We have a new traveling therapist from Montana, who will be with us for three weeks. He is very knowledgeable, however, he his trying to use the aids way to much. It is very hard to say, "No I can't do that," however I have to because it causes a huge liability for the company. I am not allowed to do ultrasound, apply a TENS unit or E-Stem unit, however I can take them off. I am also not allow to show them how to do new exercises, although I can go through the program that they already know and have been taught. Today I did some filing and also put new appointment papers in the charts and made copies of the appointment papers that have also been documented. I also will be attending a back school program put on by our facility in a few weeks.

Human Resources and Employment Law

So for the past few weeks as part of my internship I have been working on re-writing the respective Yamhill County CASA Employee and Volunteer handbooks. Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to lunch with my supervisor, Amy Bissonnette the Program Director at CASA and a member of the board of directors who is a lawyer and one of the associates from her firm who is involved in employment and human resources law. We went over the initial draft I have created and talked about what was good, what was unnecessary and what we needed to add. It was a good opportunity to learn what is necessary to have in writing in order to cover all your bases and it was also a good initiation in what kind of legal language is required in such a document. All in all I learned a lot and now have many suggestions and ideas to work with!

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Welcome to your internship!

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