Photo Essay

A normal day for me, as a high school intern, is interesting each day. I come in every Tuesday and Thursday at around 1:00. The first thing I do when I get there is talk to my mentor and see if she has anything for me to do, then when I am done with that I work on my bigger projects. Some normal task that she will ask me to complete would be to make copies, organize some files, send out emails, make phone calls, etc. It’s basically office work. Some days I will work with other people in the office and learn what they do. The people who works inside this building are basically who keeps our parks and recreation areas in good condition. They also manage different parts of the city. The position my mentor work in is referred to as Volunteer Specialist, but she also specializes in Aquatics. She works with volunteer recruitment and is in charge of placing either group or individual volunteers in certain projects around San Diego.

Working in a cubicle might seem simple, but I think it all comes down to having good communication skills. Because working here you are constantly on the phone or on email you need to know how to communicate well with others and make sure they understand you. Some good communication skills would be being able to help assist people who call, making sure people understand you and have clarity when talking to them. I also think having the patience to deal with people is a good thing. People will usually call for volunteer information and they will be directed on the website. I personally never get any phone calls at my desk but my mentor explained to me what people will usually call for and how to assist them.

Working in the Recreation Specialist position can be a handful at times, but rewarding in the end. Some days you will get one call and others days you might get five, even more. This job, at times, can be very time consuming. Every now and then you will receive a call were someone, or group, that needs to be placed within 2 days or less, so that requires you have a well planned schedule. It also requires you use all resources possible such as making phone calls, keeping in touch by email, etc My mentor explains the most exciting part of her job; "The most exciting part is meeting the individuals wanting to contribute so getting to know them and getting to hear their interest and enthusiasm then matching their interest/enthusiasm with projects that support our organization". So even though this job can be hectic at times, my mentor believes it’s all worth it in the end.

Jilly and Rosie are two interns from San Diego State University. These SDSU interns spend their days at the Park & Recreation office doing a variety of task like making phone calls, revising/organizing paper work, taking photos of volunteers, and hoping to learn more about the career life as a Park and Recreation Specialist. Some of the work they do is organizing important paperwork in the office so that it can be referenced later on. They sometimes will work on creating different flyers for volunteer events, as well other office work that is related to the project they are working on. One project that both Jilly and I worked on together is, creating laminated flyers for table clothes. In this project Jilly had created the flyer and I laminated them so that I can put them with the right table cloth.

Since I've been at this internship there aren’t many people who come inside the office, besides the people who work there. I am currently working on a project where I have to fill out volunteer incentive request form. On the form, Volunteer managers across San Diego, will fill out what volunteer supplies they would like water bottles, T-shirts, Lunch Bags, etc. So once I have put all the stuff they want together I call them and have a scheduled day & time for when they will pick it up. So far I have had about 2 Volunteer managers come in and pick up their stuff. I liked it because I actually got to meet them and hear about what kind volunteers they have. One volunteer manager I meet was really nice, she came by to pick up some drink and bars because they were having an event for their volunteers, so I got to talk to her and help her get the stuff she needed.