Suzanne Steinberg

Agency: One-On-One Partners, Inc.

Term: Spring - 2003

I am doing my internship at One-On-One Partners. My main responsibilities have been answering phones, doing personal orientations, and interviewing kids at schools. I am also in charge of making appointments with teachers around the University of Arizona to try and recruit students into the program. I decided to do the internship because I enjoyed working with children and I enjoyed the office environment One-On-One Partners provided. My career goals are to work with children whether it be a more professional or relaxed environment.

One-On-One Partners is an at risk youth mentoring program. This program recruits mentors from all over Tucson. In order to qualify for the program a mentor must be at least 18 years of age, be able to make a year commitment and have access to a car. Also the mentor must have not have a police record. In order for a child to qualify for this program he or she must have two risk factors. These risk factors can be anything from lack of parental involvement to molestation. Also for a child to be admitted in the program he or she must have a referral from someone outside their family such as a counselor.

Once the child is in the program, they are interviewed and evaluated in order to help the search in finding the right person for them to be in a partnership with. Once a child is found to be the right fit for a mentor, the mentor and child are introduced to each other. This introduction takes place at the child's home. The parents of the child, the child, and the mentor all meet together with introductions and paperwork to fill out. Everyone is explained the rules of the partnership. Once this occurs the partners agree to meet once a week and the mentor agrees to call into the caseworker once a week about how the partnership is going.

Since starting this internship I have learned that in a social work program, paperwork and scheduling take up a great deal of time. I have learned that Tucson schools are very spread out and that Yahoo maps work great when you need directions. I have learned that organization is the key to being able to run a business. Sometimes people are expected to perform more than they are capable of. I have learned that sometimes things do not work out no matter how passionate you are about something, because that does not mean someone else can see that passion. However, if you try hard and show that you are willing to work through tough situations, you can succeed.

University of Arizona | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
School of Family and Consumer Sciences | Family Studies and Human Development

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