Name: Vanessa Barksdale

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: International Social Services - USA

Major(s)/Minor(s): Social Work with Certification in Intercultural Communication

Expected Graduation Year: May 2017

 

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

International Social Services is a very unique organization, and I'm very honored to be selected to work with them. Basically, we do two things: repatriation, and intercountry casework. In casework, we do things like help make international custody battles a little easier on the social workers by being the point of communication between, say, New Jersey and Germany. This definitely produces some interesting conversations and experiences; I definitely learn and do something new every time I come through the door. It is my responsibility to be of assistance in any way possible to the caseworkers on staff here. This can entail anything from asking Puerto Rico's Social Services to run a background check in Spanish (my language of study - very cool to put in practice!) to even copying a 50 year old case file. My job, specifically, is to handle the smaller cases, which usually entails looking for the family members of children in need. It’s very rewarding, and it’s always a good time.

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

Networking! Networking! Networking! In the spring of 2014, I had an opportunity to volunteer with the organization CHOICE through the Shriver Center (also a great opportunity). One of the interns in charge of my volunteer site worked in ISS as well, and she recommended me for the position.

Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?

Student Organizations/Scholar Groups, Student Connections

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I love every minute that I'm in the office, to be honest. I suppose that most of all I love the real world practice and application of the things that I've learned to help advance the mission of such a wonderful organization.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

I've definitely gained a sense of agency and self confidence. I've gotten a chance to do, learn, and be a lot of things here, for which I'm grateful.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Find something that pushes your envelope all the way open, that you have a passion for, that's a little unconventional, and then go do that. These are the places that you learn something new. Also, don't just look at working with the "Big Wig" corporations. Look at volunteer internships with the little nonprofits; they definitely need you, and there's plenty of work to go around.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process.

Find something that pushes your envelope all the way open, that you have a passion for, that's a little unconventional, and then go do that. You'll ALWAYS learn something new.