Dana Hatfield

Agency: Tucson Jewish Community Center

Term: Spring - 2002

As I walk into the room, I can hear the joyous sounds of children playing and having fun. A smile spreads across my face as one of the kids excitedly says, hi! This is what I get to experience every time I go to the Tucson Jewish Community Center for my internship, and I love it! The JCC is an organization that fosters communal harmony by providing quality educational, social, cultural, and recreational services for the people of Tucson. It provides a large variety of services and activities for a diverse group of people in an attempt to better life for everyone. I work in the Children & Youth/Family Services/Camping Services Department, primarily in J-Care, which is an after school program for children grades one through four with working parents. It is a child-centered program that focuses on the individual needs of each child and the collective needs of the group. This means that I have the opportunity to work with a wide array of children who are on many different levels, so I am gaining knowledge that will assist me in working with and helping many different children. My job description is to help provide a safe, fun program for children to attend after school. My responsibilities include: maintaining order at the activities, providing a safe environment for the children, and helping them learn something from the activities. I have also started a "swim and stay fit club" for the children, and I am really enjoying it thus far. Ultimately, I am going to teach them various stroke techniques, but until it warms up a little more I am teaching them how to stretch and they have the chance to participate in fun activities for exercise. I am also going to have the opportunity to help my mentor, Leah, plan an overnight activity for the older children.

I decided to do this internship because I do not have a specific plan for what I am going to do after I graduate. I am thinking about going to graduate school, but I do not know which area I want to concentrate on and I was hoping that an internship would help me to focus in on my interests and my goals for life. I also knew that an internship would give me the opportunity to apply the information I am learning in my Family Studies and Human Development classes. So far, my expectations for the internship are being met, and I have outstanding mentors who are helping me to explore my options.

I have learned more from my experiences at the JCC in the past two months than I could ever learn in any class! I have learned so much about working with children, and I have grown as a person. I have learned the importance of flexibility when working with children, and I now realize more than ever before that things do not always work out as planned, but it is important to learn from past failures and be able to quickly modify plans. I have also learned to be more assertive and confident in my abilities.

I had an experience recently that helped me to realize how important one person can be in a child's life. I was standing by two boys who are usually defiant when it comes to listening to the counselors and participating in activities. They were complaining as usual that they did not want to do any of the activities. I was not sure what I could do to help the situation, but I sat with them and had a very casual conversation. Before I knew it, they were ready to participate in an activity with me. I was not sure what change had come about to cause the alteration in their attitudes, but I later discovered that my interest in them made them feel unique and important. Each of the boys realized that he was not merely another kid in the bunch because someone noticed him, and this made both of the boys more willing to be cooperative. It was an awesome experience for me because it helped me to realize that the only thing many children need is someone to show some interest in them. I would highly recommend an internship to anyone who is thinking about it! It is such a wonderful opportunity, and the skills that are obtained through hands-on experience are invaluable.

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

Emergency Information   |   Privacy Information    |    Copyright Information   |   Web Accessibility

© 2002 Institute of Children, Youth, and Families
All rights reserved