Another week has flown by, and the three-week New Generation
& Workforce Leadership Institute has come to a close. I think the biggest
question we all had through our first four weeks here was whether or not we were
actually having an impact on the students and the Unidad staff, and near the
beginning of the Institute, it was tough to find an answer.
But the way the students said
good-bye to us after the Institute had ended has led me to conclude that just
by being there to talk to the students, to get to know them and to hold them to
a different level of discipline than they had ever experienced, we definitely
made an impact.
Many of them grew a lot and learned
a lot in just the few weeks that we had been around them, and it was great to
see all of the progress culminate in the graduation ceremony.
Seeing
one of the quieter students from Level 2 of the program take the initiative to
ask if he could thank the primary trainer—Mr. Hardge—publicly for all he had taught
the students really showed the self-confidence and belief a lot of them gained.
The students weren’t the only ones that showed what they had learned and showed
appreciation for us, though.
Because only two of us are staying
with Unidad and six of us are being transferred to work at other nonprofits,
the staff expressed their thanks for the work we put in and everyone emphasized
how much easier we made the activities associated with the Institute.
We
didn’t have a lot of officially scheduled time to facilitate workshops for the
students, and don’t really have a concrete deliverable that can show the impact
we had, but I think the little things we all did like greeting the students
friendlily and smiling at them to show we cared made more of an impact than we
will ever comprehend.
Just by giving the staff more
support and showing that we wanted the students to learn and be successful, the
interactions we had with everyone associated with the Institute were very
positive.
Because the staff has been distracted
at times with different evaluations and funding issues, we have gone above and
beyond our job description and tackled the problems related to discipline that
we observed at the Institute.
It would have been easy to sit back
during the three weeks and allow the trainers and paid staff to dominate
everything, but we all wanted to make a lasting impact on this year’s
Institute, so we found areas where we could take on more than originally
planned to benefit everyone.
It may have seemed like a minute
occurrence when we all individually found our niche at the Institute, but when
we started separating from each other and the label that comes with being a
“Duke intern,” I feel like we all were the most effective.
By contrast, during those moments
when we stuck together too much as a group and were not willing to separate
from each other, it seemed like the students were less well-behaved and more
incidents occurred.
It is very challenging to try to
reach out to people that are so different than oneself—as was the case for most
of us during the Institute—but I was happy to be able to use the experiences I
have had relating people of different backgrounds; now, more than ever, I see
the importance of putting oneself in the shoes of other people before working with
them or trying to assist them.
One of the reasons that relating to
the Unidad staff and the students was easier is that our orientation to Miami
took us to many different parts of the city, introduced us to many different
people in the city and most importantly, showed that many of our preconceptions
were inaccurate.
Being able to observe some of the
less glamorous aspects of the city made it much easier to relate to the
students because we had already started thinking about relating to Miami’s
working class since our arrival.
Although I like to always be doing
productive tasks and was a bit anxious to start working during our orientation,
I now see how important it was, and more generally, how important it is to
really get to know one’s surroundings beneath the surface before starting this
type of work.
A final important lesson I took
away from the Institute was the importance of doing one’s professional duty,
regardless of the circumstances, because the results will eventually come. One
of our main roles was to hold the students to a higher standard of conduct and
behavior than many of them had ever experienced—it was the first professional
experience for many of them.
But it was extremely difficult to
discipline and express disappointment in kids who already have been going
through so many hardships in life; a major concern was that the students would
not react well to feeling inadequate or rejected after being disciplined.
After pondering the issue, I now
realize that even if the students would not have a good reaction initially to us
asking them to adjust their behavior, they would hopefully see the importance
of censoring one’s conduct in professional settings.
By the end of the Institute, having
shown we cared about the students by doing things like helping them put on
their ties for graduation, I think they gained a new level of respect for us
and our advice to them. I definitely learned that with this type of work, it
takes time to see a notable change or result.
As one
of the two students staying with Unidad to complete the projects I started
relating to the students’ paperwork and year-round activities, I am very
excited to see what I can do in the next four weeks to continue giving the kids
chances to be successful. The Level Two students are to be placed at
internships in the coming weeks, so I think being part of that process will be
very exciting.
It will be great to see the
progress they continue to make, and I may even be able to visit some of them at
their job sites.
Although it will be different
working without the support of my seven fellow DukeEngage participants, I look
forward to continuing to make the best out of every situation thrown at me and
hope I can keep assisting the Unidad staff. At this point of the program, I am
thrilled to be able to say that I don’t know of anything I could have done more
or differently to benefit the Institute or the students, and I hope that
feeling continues.
Go Duke,
Amrith Ramkumar
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