Week 1: Organizational Culture

Throughout my first week with my internship I was very surprised by all the work that is done behind the scenes of a non-profit ran specifically by a university. Having worked and been a part of the program PUPP (Princeton University Preparatory Program) I have begun to connect the programs operations and the logistics that I was seeing as attended different meeting with my supervisor, the program’s director, and the dean of the university. In the meetings I was able to obtain information that touched many topics. We looked at the program’s budget for the summer institute, different tasks that needed to be done prior to the start of the program and looked at anything that we may anticipate in the future. Considering that this program is designed for high-achieving low-income scholars we sat down to also discuss of some of the traumas that these scholars are currently facing and the ways that we can assist them to combat these issues. Some scholars face issues that affect their living situations such as evictions. Others face issues that deal with their own or their relative’s immigration status which can affect their access to higher education. There are many more issues that I could go on about that our Jepson community has seen through different courses we have been a part of that looks at trauma in the homes of those in low-income communities. Additionally, having been a teaching assistant last summer in the program and now being a teaching assistant liaison, I have to now switch roles and act more like a supervisor. This position is very weird for me because I am learning how to delegate different tasks that are given to me during team meetings and I have to seek the most efficient way to do so. Being the supervisor of nine teaching assistants who go to schools such as Duke, Princeton, and Yale is very challenging, but I know eventually my team will work efficiently and smoothly. What a very overwhelming week!