First (or 50th) Impressions

This blog prompt asks for first impressions about the internship site. I have already interned there, so it has lived up to my expectations that I had going in. The difference between when I was there during the summer and the time that I'm interning now is the fact that there is a lot more going on. During the summer things were pretty relaxed, because the first real event taking place at the institute wasn't until September. This time around, I have a big hand in planning the next event that is happening (The 13th Annual Youth Town Meeting). For more information about the Youth Town Meeting, see my January 5th post. So I'm going to answer these prompts/questions based on what I have noticed over the past few days vs. how it was during the summer.

Your observations of your site
The Institute is surprisingly calm. One of the biggest events of the year is coming up in ten days. Karla, my mentor, shows little signs of frustration at the people who are not getting back to her, but that is to be expected. Sam and I attended a staff meeting today, where everyone went around and updated the director about what they have been up to the last week. Some of the people are called "event assistants," and this means they are there to help Karla with the YTM. (Karla is the director of WorldLink, the youth program at the IPJ so she is the point person/director of all things YTM).

Your evaluation of the site’s mission/purpose
This prompt kinda confuses me. I haven't talked about the IPJ as a whole, so I guess I will address that. The Institute for Peace and Justice was founded by Joan B. Kroc (wife of the founder of McDonald's, and a renowned San Diego philanthropist). Here is their mission statement: "Through education, research and peacemaking activities, the Institute offers programs that advance scholarship and practice in conflict resolution and human rights. The Institute for Peace & Justice at the University of San Diego draws upon Catholic social teaching that sees peace as inseparable from justice and acts to prevent and resolve conflicts that threaten local, national and international peace." The IPJ is a great organization to be involved with, in any way possible. I'm glad I am able to take part in what it has to offer at such a young age.

Any new skill sets that you know you'll need to work on?
The majority of the work I am doing this week is updating fliers (on word) and creating announcements and letters to go into the tote bag that is handed out to every YTM delegate. This requires drafting the letter or flier, having Karla look over it and make sure everything is there, and then putting the text into photoshop and making it beautiful. This is all stuff that I have done before, and I feel very comfortable doing it.

Any likes and/or dislikes that you have experienced within these first two days?
I have liked pretty much everything! I know Sam and my mentor Karla fairly well so that makes it easier that we don't have the awkward not-wanting-to-ask-for-anything phase. Everything has been good...Oh! I thought of something that I really don't like. My car (that I drive to internship in) has a manual transmission (so it's stick). The IPJ is located at USD, on top of a huge hill. There are two entrances to USD off of Linda Vista Road. The first is the quickest way to the IPJ but it is a huge hill with two stop signs right in the middle of it. I haven't found the guts to try going up that hill, because I'm fairly new to stick. Soo for the past few days I've gone up the less steep (but longer) hill on Linda Vista Road to the second USD entrance. This requires me to drive (on flat ground thank god) across campus until I get to the IPJ parking lot, which is directly above the hill I have nicknamed Hell. Overall this takes me about 5 more minutes of commuting time, which basically means I have to get up a little earlier. I guess if thats my biggest complaint, its going pretty well.