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During the summer of
2013, I completed an internship with The City Mission in Cleveland, Ohio. The
City Mission is a non-profit homeless shelter for men, women, and children
and is located downtown. The purpose of the mission is to not only give immediate shelter,
but allow clients to enter a three-phase program that provides them with
the skills to live on their own in middle-class America while teaching lessons
with a biblical foundation.
While at the mission, I
served as an early childhood development assistant for children ages three to
six years. With the help of two
other interns, I developed a nine week vacation bible school program
appropriate for the different age ranges of children. Since I was with the
preschool aged children, I also worked directly with case workers and the
therapist to report behavior and warn them of any developmental lapses.
The internship highly
impacted the way I look at homelessness and those involved. It also allowed me
to turn the information I learned in the classroom into practical skills such
as watching for symptoms of certain disorders and designing a program that
would allow children to learn based on their age. Moreover, the internship
reaffirmed that I should pursue a career in psychology that allows me to work
with children on a regular basis.
