Unpaid Internships

As I began my quest to secure 300 hours of internships before June 2014 graduation, I will be completely honest with you, my first thought was MONEY. Are these internships paid, or unpaid? Hourly or stipend? The most important question was whether these internships I've been looking for are paid or unpaid, because, let's face it, how else can I afford rent this summer otherwise?

I don't consider myself a money-centered woman, or very materialistic for that matter. But, as you may or may not know, Zach and I have struggled financially during our first year here in Seattle since moving here from the midwest last June. An understandable condition when you consider the fact that we moved out here with practically just the clothes on our backs, no connections, and no jobs. It was a risk we were willing to take for both adventure and personal growth.

So as I rifle through business cards, information sheets, and websites upon websites of student affairs graduate internships, I can't help but have money on my mind. If I'm working so many hours at an unpaid internship, well when will I find the free time to get another hourly PT job in order to keep us afloat?

I know for a fact that there are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of other college students and college grads on the internship search with the same concern on their mind. It has made me ponder what their impact is on industries, the economy, and the college student him/herself. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of opinion articles and research studies out there that cover the concept of the internship. A great many of them support unpaid internships, but plenty others disagree with the lack of ethics and accessibility surrounding them.

I personally do not support the idea of unpaid internships, in particular unpaid internships that are 40 hours per week. There is a big difference between a college student interning unpaid just 3 to 14 hours per week to obtain unique career-related experiences and the recent college graduate interning unpaid for 40 hours per week with hardly anything to show for it afterwards.

Let me back up here and clearly indicate that I do understand the importance, value, and unique offerings of unpaid internships. I had an unpaid internship myself during my undergraduate studies. For about 4 months I worked 7 hours per week as an event planner and receptionist for a local mental health clinic.  There, I had the opportunity to network around my college town, gain valuable insight to the mental health field, and interact with seasoned mental health professionals. This internship was a required facet of my Bachelor of Science degree in Community Psychology, and I am glad that it was included in my curriculum. The hours were reasonable, the experience was well worth it, and I learned more than I can ever express.

Undoubtably I will be holding unpaid internships in my future. Right now I am waiting to hear back from a few potential student affairs internship positions for this summer, none of which are paid positions.

I guess my point in all of this is: I do not personally think unpaid internships are good for the individual or the industries they permeate. I think all companies and institutions should value their interns enough to pay them, even if only a stipend. It's more than a matter of monetary compensation for time and effort, but it's also a matter of respect and gratitude. Skyrocketing tuition costs should also be taken into account. With students picking up summer jobs and part-time jobs to offset rising costs of college, where will they find time to pick up an unpaid internship?

An opinion article I came across today reinforced my own opinion on unpaid internships. The article, titled "Unpaid Internships Reinforce American Inequality" (by Clara Ritger) discussed the author's opinion that because students from wealthy families can afford unpaid internships, they are put at a further advantage in the working world than their low-income counterparts, who might not have the option. This is yet another example of institutional/system discrimination that gives the wealthy a leg-up and the low-SES a disadvantage.

It was from Ritger's article where I found out that in 2010 the Obama administration announced plans to crack down on unpaid internships. I wonder where that goal has gone? I certainly haven't heard it discussed by our government recently.

It makes me wonder why there aren't scholarships for unpaid internship opportunities. If the industries and institutions absolutely must continue to offer unpaid internships, there should be opportunities to fund those who wish to pursue them! Just like scholarships, students should be able to apply for aid if they want to accept a rigorous, and/or out-of-state unpaid internship. Wouldn't that be a good idea? Maybe that's my calling. Maybe I'll do something with that someday. I'll let it brew in my mind for a while and come back to it.

I also took a gander at an article titled the The Impact Unpaid Internships Have on the Labor Market from Investopedia.com. There, I found a section on Best Practices for Internships and I'm determined to keep these in mind as I am pursuing my own internships:

• "The student's experience with the employer should emphasize unique job or career related activities that the student could not otherwise obtain outside the specific internship.
• The employer should inform company managers and supervisors of the objectives of the internship program and the presence of the intern.
• The employer should provide a company and worksite orientation that clarifies internal rules, operating procedures, and internship expectations." 

These might seem quite obvious, but I think they are valuable and applicable to any internship in any field. 

As I continue to evolve my own interest in career education and planning, internship discernment is something I will also continue to think about and consider. 

August! Whoa!

I really enjoy observing my own adjustments to the move, new city, and new people. I might still have moments of loneliness or loss, but the differences between the Catie that moved to Seattle on June 8th and the Catie who is perusing the streets like a true Seattleite on August 1st are obvious and immense. The best part about it is the lesson; because we all know I'm going to be adjusting to several new, big cities in my future. These obstacles, these observations, they're all preparing me for the adventure that is my future, and the fact that I walk the streets with confidence and eagerly head to work in the morning gives me great hope.

Thank goodness I am getting used to my new office at SSCC! Being the new person is something I have always hated; the constant questions, the awkwardness, and not knowing exactly where to be or what to do all drives me crazy. Though I'm struggling with the vast amount of freedom I have in this position, it's nice to have that for a change. Last week the other Activities Coordinator, Nathan, and I took groups of international students to the Microsoft Visitor Center on Friday and volunteered with them with EarthCorps at a trail in West Seattle on Saturday. It was the smiling, laughing international students that reassured me, once again, that I am going into the right field. Some of them got to Skype their families in other countries when we were visiting Microsoft! Others learned a ton about identifying local and invasive plant species when we were volunteering. In the future we have planned some hikes, historical tours, and tourist attractions planned for them. I'm most looking forward to new student orientation this fall quarter; Nathan and I get to spearhead the whole day! Maybe I'm just still in the honeymoon period, but right now I'd say I love this job so much I'd do it for free. (Just don't tell them that!)

Now that it's August, that means my first day as a graduate assistant is less than 2 weeks away! I think I have a solid schedule hammered out between my two jobs. It will be soon enough that classes get added in to that as well. Though nothing can compare to my ridiculously over-involved undergrad experience, this will be a challenge I know. But hey, what's a better way to grow than to challenge myself?

It's another day at the grind for me tomorrow. I am already looking forward to the weekend, though. My mornings have just been super crappy; but maybe that's just because my body is used to waking up at its leisure.

Sidenote: Odin is psychotic right now. For those of you who know him, yes, his pupils are 100% dilated, he is running top speed around the studio, and every so often grabbing someone's limb and biting it before dashing off again. Psycho kitty! And now he is begging Zach hardcore for some yum yums. I guess that means it's time for me to go spoil my cat.

While I'm gone, check out this picture I took of a guy washing windows on a skyscraper:

I believe it's the One Union Square building!

It's getting better all the time

(FRIDAY)

Today was my second day at work for South Seattle Community College (SSCC) International Programs (IP) office. From 8am to 1pm I was training to run the front desk, answer inquiries, file paperwork, and learning FERPA (Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act, I think). I have never felt so welcome at a place of employment quite like the welcome I felt here. In the afternoon my coworker came in and he and I took 3 international students on an outing to Bite of Seattle, a food festival at the Seattle Center showcasing local eateries, bands, and artisans.  It was a wonderful day and I know I'm really going to enjoy this place when fall quarter comes and everything picks up again.

I'm still adjusting to this place.  Zach is doing better than me. I just have to be so damn emotional and have this insatiable urge to feel "at home." It'll come soon enough, but I have to work for it by putting myself out there and gaining some self confidence.

We got some rain today; something I really should try and become more familiar with. I somehow got rid of every waterproof clothing item I ever had before we moved out here. Yesterday I managed to find 2 nice shirts and a blazer I can wear to work at the thrift store; I was ecstatic because I really needed some more dress clothes. If only I got lucky there more often! It's always hit or miss, you have to be patient when you shop there. Though it can be a fun game, you can't rarely accomplish a specific clothing mission there.

(SATURDAY)

Di and Mitch, on their way out to California, are stopping in Seattle today! I think we're going to take them to the Bite of Seattle event that I went to yesterday for work. They'll like it, I'm sure. Free food and entertainment, where can you go wrong? I actually really enjoyed myself there; there is so much food to try and lots to look at. The Seattle Center is a fantastic place to put on events. Summer here is THE BEST; there are festivals every weekend and always things to do! Today at the Seattle Art Museum Sculpture Park they have free yoga on the lawn at 10:30 as well as a free sketch class where they supply you with what you need to learn to draw in the park.

I just have to go back to talking about my job at SSCC to say how much I really am going to love it. I'm back in event planning and I'm going to be making a positive impact on the lives of international students there. And for an amazing pay, that I feel that I'll hardly deserve! I'm grateful for this wonderful opportunity with them :)

Things are going to start picking up for me. Sunday I'm going to Alki Beach with my future supervisor of my graduate assistantship along with two NUFP (NASPA undergraduate fellowship program) interns. We're going to get some lunch and then he's going to show us the beach. I guess there is a little statue of liberty there? The following weeks are mostly full of my 17 max hours at SSCC (or at whatever venue the event is that we take students too). My graduate assistantship is going to start 2 weeks early so that I can gain experience working with the Fukuoka program. The program brings I think around 30 japanese students from Fukuoka University over here for two weeks to study, experience the surrounding area, and practice their English. At the end of the academic year, I will be helping plan the program with my supervisor. I'm really looking forward to it!

Also, I have been looking at LOTS of programs abroad.

(SUNDAY)


I kept putting off posting this post so I kept getting time frames confused and I have no idea what tense to write in, haha!

Blood, sweat, and tears

Our first 5 weeks in Seattle haven't been 100% blood, sweat, and tears, but if you asked me how I felt about moving the day before we left St. Cloud, you would have found me curled up in a ball on the floor of our empty closet with wet, swollen eyes sobbing about how we're not going to make it.

Looking back on August of 2008, the days before I left New Berlin, Wisconsin for St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, I cannot recall how I felt about the whole thing. There was so much to prepare for in the days leading to my departure that by now everything in my memory is a blur. The only thing I remember is the moment I hugged my parents goodbye on campus; I saw their eyes getting wet and as they turned away, my own tears started flowing without my consent. I turned around and looked at Mitchell Hall, my new home, and never felt so alone in my life. There was not one person in the entire city who's name I knew besides my roommate's.

Four years of SCSU later I found myself with quality friendships, multiple jobs, internships, and a husband. Everything worked out. That first year was hard, and so was the last year, but everything worked out. I have to remember that while I'm in Seattle. I have to remember that every time that we move (because we plan on moving around a lot).

Tomorrow marks 5 weeks here. Yesterday, I was offered two part-time positions in my field. One is a graduate assistantship at Seattle University with the International Student Center and the other position is the Activities and Events Coordinator with South Seattle Community College.  I am delighted that my hard work and dedication paid off. Of course, I couldn't have done it with a little help from some new friends. Melissa was a girl in my summer class; she let me know about the International Student Center deciding to hire a second graduate assistant because she works there as one. Lindsey, another girl in my summer class, actually works in the same office at South Seattle Community College, where I got my position, and put in good words for me. Thank you so much, you two! I appreciate your help and support.

Tonight we're going out for food and drinks, partially because I haven't seen people from my class in a while, partially because I want to go out and celebrate getting job(S)!

It's been such a productive week, I feel incredible. My Google calendar is filling up nicely again. Remember this?

August 2011 - May 2012: Every waking second I either worked or did homework.

Yeah I don't ever want to go back to that. But the past 5 weeks my Google Calendar has been anxiety-provoking-ly EMPTY. I'll have to remember to keep a healthy balance. Being under-involved makes me lonely, being overly-involved makes me crazy. Two jobs, grad school, and a few volunteer hours each week should keep me well balanced, I think.

Going back to the post title: blood, sweat, and tears. I shed so many tears in the past few months. In May it was because of all the difficult goodbyes I had to face, in June it was because I lacked hope and felt in dispair without friends or an income. It's July now and my blood, sweat, and tears have pulled through for me with jobs and new friends. I'm so fortunate and grateful that things are working out. Now if only an employer would see Zach's resume and recognize his genius and glory so we're both employed!

Today I have some appointments on campus and I'm going to take care of some things there. Tomorrow I head over to South Seattle Community College to fill out some hiring paperwork. I start next week at SSCC and my first day at the ISC at SU is August 27! I'm proud of myself.

Our Journey So Far...

Well.
We have a place to live in Seattle now. It's right downtown in an incredibly convenient location. We can take a 15 minute walk to Pike Place Market and I can walk to class in about 15 minutes as well. A lady called Zach back in response to some apartment inquiries and she was very happy to work with us. The stress of finding a place to live is over, but the stress of finding employment is growing.

I have applied to many positions: all positions that I would love to have and commit myself to. I think it is close to 40 or 50 so far (I've lost count of a few). However, it's been difficult without a Seattle address; I think employers just don't bother with our applications sometimes because our location is out of state. We have enough money saved up for several months of rent, so as long as we find a job within those first few months, we should be fine. At this point I'm going to start applying to wave-slave jobs in order for us to keep our head above water. Ugh cover letters are my enemy! Only because I always want them to be perfect and it takes me about 3 to 4 hours just to do one of them.

For the past few nights we had stayed in Moorhead, Minnesota with our great friend Lars and helped him move in while he let us stay with him. Right now we're in Medora, North Dakota visiting and staying with our friends Bretta and Dylan. I got incredibly sunburnt on the very first day, unfortunately, but we have some fun things planned such as hikes and possibly an excursion to Dickenson, ND for tattoos...

From here, we're driving out to Bozeman, Montana early Wednesday morning. It should take us about 8 hours to get there, I think. We'll stay in a hotel there, and hopefully head out early Thursday morning for the nearly 8 hour drive to Spokane, Washington where Zach's dad lives. We have a meeting with our landlord at 1pm in Seattle on Friday so that morning we'll leave Spokane early and get there in time to meet her. After 8 days of homelessness, we'll finally be in our new Seattle studio!

The pets have behaved surprisingly well on this long trip. There were a few times that Odin was spooked and/or meowed nonstop for a long time, but for the most part Feared Kraken (our bearded dragon) will bask in the sun on our dashboard and Odin will sleep on the armrest between the driver and the passenger seat. Here he is snoozing amongst some of the crap we have stuffed in the backseat:

Our new studio is kind of small, but Zach and I have never needed all that much space. I'm a little heartbroken we couldn't find a place with a patio or at least huge windows, but this was still an incredible gem to find, especially with it's incredible location and unbelievable price. I hope Odin likes it! Here's the floor plan:

It's June 4th today, meaning my summer class starts in exactly 10 days. I still have to finish reading the textbook due, but it shouldn't be a problem. I'm so nervous about this class! This course is available to both first years and second years, so there will be people A LOT more experienced than me in the class. How nerve-wracking! I have to get my act together as soon as I get there. Ah! I don't know how graduate students are supposed to be, I've never been one before!

To be honest, the night before we moved out I had a little break down at the horrifying thought of moving across the country to a huge city where nothing and nobody is familiar to us; plus we had no jobs and not all that much money. I just lost all hope and faith in our ability to make it. I'm ashamed of it now, because I'm incredibly confident in Zach and I as a team, but I do still think about it and wonder if it was warranted. I try to be so carefree, but something always stops me. I suppose that's the healthiest way to be: a bit cautious, a bit carefree. Oh how I over-analyze everything that doesn't need to be.


This is it, I've come to realize. This whole cross-country move. This is what I've been dreaming of for years and years: getting rid of almost everything I own, jumping on a freeway and driving for hours on end, to end up in a coastal city of opportunity, where I can start a whole new chapter of my life. My SCSU chapter has really been- erm, was, I guess- amazing. Absolutely amazing. I may have complained a lot during my 4 year stay, but I learned more than I ever thought possible. And the people I met? The people I met will stay with me for the rest of my life, whether we stay in touch or not. St. Cloud was where I found myself. Seattle will be where I build myself up from there.
And who knows what the rest of my life will bring?
All I know is I'm not going to tie myself down anywhere. The world is far to large to stay in one place and study one thing. I want to know it all, I want to bring my kids everywhere and teach them everything. I want to experience multiple cultures, I want to befriend people I never thought I'd get along with. I'm so damn young, which makes this whole thing so damn exciting! As I've said to Zach and would now like to remind myself: WE ARE MADE OF STARS. ★★★

In other news, I woke up yesterday with my next tattoo design all figured out in my head. If I find time today, I think I shall try and sketch it.

And with that, I'll end this post.
Here is some love: take it with you and spread it around today :)

Keep on keeping on

That's just about all I can tell myself to do these days.

I've said it before and I'll say it to myself a hundred times more: I'm never letting myself be involved in this much ever again. It's too much and my health has suffered greatly from it.

Though it's been painful, I have learned a lot this year. I wish I could say it was from my classes and from my experiences, but I've mostly learned a lot about myself, my breaking points, and the type of person I become in different environments. Maybe I've changed a lot, or maybe I've become more adaptable. I suppose I won't really be able to tell until this is all said and done and I can look back and analyze.

I called Seattle University early this week and finally got a more solid answer about when I might be informed of a change in my status for the graduate program I applied to. I had forgotten all about the special April 15 date that most graduate schools comply with where everyone invited to programs must accept or deny their invitation by that date. The director of this program emailed me himself and said the beginning of next week, I should know. After all this waiting, I guess I can spare a few more days.

The job search is not going well; more like it came to a halting stop right after spring break ended and my work multiplied nearly tenfold. I have saved a few jobs I want to apply to over these past few weeks, but I can't honestly say that I'll get to them before the application window closes. This really scares me since I really have to get moving on this. If Zach and I are really planning on moving to Seattle before or right after our lease is up on May 31 then it is time to crack down on plans.

I wish I had more exciting updates, but let's face it: I'm a college senior in the last 3 weeks of classes. There isn't much else I can concentrate on besides surviving work, class, and my internship.

Speaking of my internship, that has been going quite well. I think I'm close to 80 out of 100 hours done by now and the LGBT prom I've been planning is happening April 28. We have a fundraiser on the 24th at Five Guys Burgers and Fries because we're still short on the budget, but I have faith the event will be successful. After all, we decided even if only a few couples come, we're doing a good thing here!

Enough procrastination. Time to go read my favourite textbook (Personality Psychology).

The Job Search

is downright daunting.

Of course I'm looking at jobs that I'm qualified for, but I don't feel qualified for them. We all know I've spread myself thin, all over campus and all over town with my jobs/internships/responsibilities, but having ONE job to put all of my time/effort into? I can't imagine it yet. I've never worked somewhere "full time" (I put that in quotes because I've worked 30-40 hours a week somewhere before, but I was in high school/college, so it wasn't during the day nor my focus nor professional.)

I feel confident I can do these jobs, but I am unsure of how to express it in my cover letters and resumes. I honestly think it's going to take a lot of research and drafts to get it right. Thank goodness we have a Career Services office I can utilize! They really helped me with my resume and cover letter for grad school, so I'm sure they'll be helpful in my job search materials.

So far I've mostly looked at administrative positions in community colleges, mental health facilities, and a few in customer service. I haven't been limiting my search at all. In fact I have about 20 positions bookmarked in my browser, about 25-30 saved in higher education sites, and maybe 15 tabs open right now. And the best/worst part? Seattle Craigslist posts SO MANY jobs every single day that I am qualified for and could apply for. I really just have to sit down and DO it.

Before I dive into the job hunt/applications, I have a few midterms to finish up and papers/journals to do. It's so hard to concentrate on them, though, when I'd much rather have my future lined up and waiting for me. It's time for me to study counseling ethics and personality psychology now, adiós!