Jepson Internship
Solving Problems/Improving Leadership

Week 8: Working Under Distress

Aaron D'Oleo

During this week of my internship we had an emergency that directly effected one of our scholars. On Wednesday of this past week, during the lunch hour, I was greeted with the tears of one of our scholars. When she began to speak she had mentioned that she was just notified by her father that her mother had been denied a residency visa and was now being deported to El Salvador. Hearing this news was something that made my heart melt, but I knew that–as a team–we needed to attempt to comfort this scholar any way that we could.

When thinking of this situation and the next steps that I took to help this young lady, I began thinking of the ideas that of adaptive leadership and how during times of distress leaders look towards authority for direction. In her specific circumstance, I was able to refer her to my authority, the director of the program, and his mere presence was reassuring enough to soothe her nerves even if it was temporary. As a team, we worked that whole evening to see where we could aid this young lady and how we could potentially use the resources of the university as well as the faculty to aid the young lady and her family.

This concept also shows how followers look for protection during times of stress. By simply being able to be here with this young lady and seek to help her and her family in other aspects we were able to show her that we were here to comfort her.

Im excited for my last week with the program. I know that this summer definitely has helped with my professional growth.

Aaron D'Oleo

Throughout my upbringing I often experienced let down due to our powerless financial situations. After a slight transition I was able to use my faith and family to determine my perseverance in education and throughout life's hurdles. As a first generation college student I have sought to actively maintain my passions of community engagement and change. I use all the knowledge gained from the arduous moments in my life and that of the classroom to engage socially in the community. The goal is to bring about change in all my endeavors and in the live's of the people I come in contact with.