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INTERNette's Blog I’m a high school student interning here at CHCF as part of my high school senior project. The goal of this “final project” is basically to go out into the real world and learn about any area that interest you and then get a feel for it by interning. I chose CHCF because not only am I Hispanic and adore kids, but also because I simply wanted a place where I knew the organization had a good motive; one who’s goal is in helping those who they serve rather than making a profit. I found the perfect placement here at CHCF. This blog or journal is a way for me to keep a record of and share everything that I’ve done and hopefully will accomplish here; therefore when I look back I know exactly what I’ve learned here. Entries:
Today was quite a short day here at CHCF. I began my morning by continuing to work on this blog…I had almost lost track of how much catching up I had to do with this. Nevertheless, I’m still writing! Since I only work a few hours today, this took up the first part of my day while the majority of the rest of the day, I spent inputting the last of the information into the database I had recently talked about. Yes, I know not all that exciting today, but when working in an office, somebody always has to do those little droning details. Today that somebody was me! Today was merely about me catching up on my work here, more specifically concerning my work with this little blog. I suppose I’ve been so busy with my time here working on the assignments I was given that I hadn’t had enough time in the day to write up an entry. Good thing I’ve been keeping notes! So my morning consisted of this, while my afternoon consisted of working on the same database I’ve been working on for some time now. This program seems simple at first but it actually can get quite complicated. Although I think I’ve used it a few enough times now that I know what I’m doing…or at least I have the hang of it now. Basically what I’m doing is inputting information into this program such as new names and donations. I found this to be very useful because I don’t know how else one would remember all this information and yes there a lot of information…stacks of information to input actually! So I guess you would call this a good office tool and it definitely helps in our vision to go digital…always a plus! I guess you could call today a relaxing day because I honestly didn’t have much to do today. Half my day consisted of getting the annual CHCF programmatic report ready to be mailed out to various people. I put everything that needed to be sent out together, placed it all in individual envelopes and then sealed each one. Thankfully I didn’t have to lick any envelopes! I then continued by editing another list…no frustrating researching this time though. I just had to convert the format of the file…simple enough! This list consisted of the people in the CHCF board of directors. They oversee and make decisions about CHCF however they don’t work directly in the organization. It was interesting to see what companies they are actually from. Although never having met any of them I can tell they’re a diverse bunch of people because they range from working in banks to even retail clubs. So clearly the CHCF network branches out further than one would think. Today I followed up with the contacts I had researched a couple of days ago just to confirm that I actually found the correct contact. The task was simple enough, however time consuming because I not all the contacts had direct lines thus I couldn’t reach them. Then I had to go on yet another hunt to attempt to find that individual. Although it may sound somewhat silly and juvenile…I really enjoyed making the calls out of the office. Having to say, “Yes, I’m calling from the Committee of Hispanic Children and Families…” is just one of those things that makes one feel like they’re not just an intern. I then continued my day by researching press releases and how to write one. Although I wasn’t asked to write one yet, I figured I would be soon enough hence the research. Now the rest of my day was just me working on the database I had mentioned before. Work that does not require a lot of thinking power…just how I like to end my day! After having to locate a new desk and then being moved around again around the office, I could finally begin my first assignment of the day. I began by researching individuals so the CHCF board of directors can contact them. I found this to be yet another task that I underestimated. After trails of links I believed I had finally found the person I was looking for, but to my disappointment all I found was the wrong “Mr. Smith” out somewhere in California rather than NYC. Finally when I did find the correct person, I had to begin the process all over again with a new “Mr. Smith”. Frustrating is how I would describe my morning; nevertheless I accomplished the task and proceeded on with my day. The better half of my day involved some more research (nothing like my morning of course). My job was to find or update any statistics relating to the Hispanic community of NYC. I found an overwhelming amount of information ranging from school reports to immigrant welfare. I may just be an intern here, but I actually do read the things I see henceforth I learned a lot of interesting facts today. Did you know that one in every six Latino children are uninsured? Well I found this surprising, so I guess the saying holds true…you learn something new every day. When I arrived this morning I was confused to see the office so quiet and well…empty. It wasn’t as if I had arrived at a lunch break or anything. Apparently there was an all staff meeting about to commence. I fortunately was able to join in right beforehand to get a feel for and understand one of their group meetings. To my greater surprise, it was not a very corporate meeting, instead it was what I would say a friendly “get-together” to discuss business. It consisted of updating, sharing of ideas, and plenty of laughs. Much was accomplished and learned especially on my part. The second half of my day was mainly deskwork. Basically I had to input a bunch of names and information into a computer program. Normally I’d be dismal by such repetitive work as this, but in actuality I was quite pleased. To be honest, at that point of the day and week, I was tired, so to end my day by doing some easy work like this was pretty nice. I began the day by doing some more research, this time for some more things to add to the CHCF Facebook page. I then read a (NCLR) policy report in order so I could write a thank you letter to them for giving us the grant we requested. I then edited the CHCF webpage simply by commenting and suggesting from an outside point of view (after all I am rather new around here). After this was completed with, I did some more research for my boss’ boss. I researched two foundations like I had previously done with my boss to see if their mission is similar to ours. Then I actually did start writing the thank you later to the company (NCLR) for their grants to CHCF. It seemed that this took up a lot of my time because by the time I was done with this my time here was almost over. Despite the rumors, apparently time does fly by in an office. Finally my day ended with this…writing an enlightening little blog. The day finally came today where my “hard work” would be sent out into the world. The letter of intent I had written last week was formally printed and sent out today to its company destination. It was nice to know that my work would actually leave the walls of these office’s…it makes what little I do here, that much more real. I did some research today on how to achieve a paperless office. Apparently my boss, or in a more general sense, the office wants to finally go digital with their work. I personally believe that it is incredible idea because from the moment I walked into this office, one of the first things I noticed was the amount of paper going around this place. In all honestly, as an intern I was worried I would have to deal with much of this paperwork. Although I didn’t have to deal with this and as I said before, better yet I got my very own cubicle with a computer. My day then proceeded with a meeting with the Senior Development Associate. Besides the initial interview I conducted, she also taught me how to use a financial program by which I was very perplexed. There were so many different features embedded in this software that makes it very useful but also very mind-boggling. I truly give credit to those who manage it so efficiently. On the other hand, I will be using this program soon enough therefore I should probably obtain the patience learn more about it. Although as a part-time babysitter who’s had to deal with some of the neediest kids around, I can honestly say that I think I’ve developed enough patience to last me through this entire internship…and beyond! Today consisted of me revising the letter of inquiry/intent that I had written the previous working day. This took up the majority of my day; the rest of my day was comprised of scanning papers and editing files. I also had to organize a few interview questions in preparation for my next interview with a fellow employee. But what I thought was the highlight of my day was when I met the executive director of the company (now the CEO). One can only imagine how intimidating the greeting was…I a lowly high school intern was meeting and greeting with the CEO of a major organization, not your everyday acquaintance. However, but a brief exchange of words, it was quite interesting, to finally see the person referred to in just about every task I was given to do. But anyway, this took up about five minutes of my five hour day so it was not all that dramatic in reality. Today seemed to be a busy work day in the office, because after I completed my initial work, I really didn’t have much to do thereafter asides from the occasional filing. So I had a lot of free time on my hands today. At first I really enjoyed having a small break from my work (revising my letter), but then I was left somewhat bored. So I guess you could say that the thing I learned today was that in an office environment it’s always good to have something to work on…at least for me it is! When I was going in for my second day of work, not only was I running a little late, but it was also raining out. Helpless me commuting to the city without an umbrella….what was I thinking. Nevertheless I arrived, ready to work. I was soon left with the task of researching a foundation and trying to understand how one would go about applying for a grant from this particular foundation. I believed this to be a simple task, however I was surely mistaken. I wouldn’t call myself a computer geek but I at least consider myself “computer savvy”, so I was slightly shocked at how tricky it was to navigate through this simple website and understand the terminology. However I eventually managed to comprehend it and as a result I gained a greater insight. I was glad about that. This initial research was in preparation for me to write a letter of inquiry to this company. I was really glad that I was given another task that is important to the organization. Luckily I was given the correct terminology and wording used to write a typical letter of intent so the task was not grueling, but I will say it did take some brain power. I had to compare the similarities between our company’s missions. This unexpectedly took up most of my work day, but nevertheless I’d say so far day two was a success. Today was my first day interning here at the Committee for Hispanic Children and Families. As a high school senior, my expectations for interning were not very high. However, I found myself both very interested and welcome in the office community. I was delighted to learn that I would actually have the opportunity to learn about different aspects of this organization by interviewing various members of the company. This is far better from what I believed I would be doing as an intern here, which was pretty much alphabetizing papers and fetching people coffee. Instead of this tedious work, my first morning here consisted of creating a PowerPoint teaching others how to write Grant Proposals, which I myself found very informative even though I doubt I will ever be writing proposals. Now, this next task may seem boring but it in reality it wasn’t all that dreary, in fact it’s probably the most useful thing that I’ve learned today…learning how to use the copy machine! After fumbling at a few buttons, I got the handle of it. When all's said and done, I’d say my first day here was actually surprisingly relaxing yet I was able to actually do work that meant something…the perfect combination for an intern.
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