Using Strengths to Overcome Obstacles

It’s difficult to believe that I have one more week of my internship. Every week, my supervisor and I meet to discuss my work. At our meetings, she goes over my work and gives me feedback as she’s reviewing it. It would be more efficient for her to review my work before our meetings and provide feedback after she’s looked it over. However, she does not have much time during the week to review my work because she has many other responsibilities. This is a challenge of interning for such a small department. There are only four full-time staff members at Common Ground, and they oversee many student employees. My internship supervisor in particular works with many students. She supervises dozens of Cultural Advisors, SpiderFirst mentors and ambassadors, and students working on other miscellaneous projects. As a result, I have had to work very independently. However, I do not think that this is a negative, because I am a naturally independent worker. My supervisor and I are able to accommodate the fact that she has limited time and a busy schedule. In addition, at our weekly meetings, my supervisor only gives me a few things to do for the next week. It usually does not take me long to complete those tasks. After I have finished those tasks, it is up to me to find things to work on. Since this is a very large project, I have never lacked things to research or do. For example, I hope to collaborate with other offices and staff at UR to get their feedback on my project. Some examples are the Office of Financial Aid, the Office of Scholars and Fellowships, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the library, and first-generation faculty and staff. The people in these offices are more knowledgeable about their subject than I am, and I want to make sure that I am not missing anything important.

Overall, there are no glaring problems at my internship. There are areas that, with more resources, could be more effective. However, my supervisor and I are able to work around those problems through our strengths and collaboration.