Advocating for an Internship at the Arc of King County
Importance of Being a Passionate Pursuer
Going into my BASW program, I knew that I had a strong desire to focus my education on supporting people with disabilities. However, I was surprised to find out that disability is rarely, if ever, talked about throughout our program even though disability affects 1 in 5 people in the United States. During my Intro to Social Work class, we had two guest speakers from the Arc of King County describing their work through this non-profit to support people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and connect them to resources in their community. Hearing this, I went up to the speakers right after class and expressed my interest in working with the Arc and asked if it would be possible to fulfill my Community Service Learning requirements for my BASW curriculum through working with their group.
However, getting the Arc to become my CSL placement was particularly difficult since it was not one of the pre-registered service sites partnered with the School of Social Work. There is an option for self-placement, however that requires a pre-existing relationship with the service site in order to self-place, which I did not have. Even though the Arc was incredibly supportive of me interning there, it was essentially impossible to get there. After five weeks filled with many meetings, emails, and “no’s”, I had finally confirmed my CSL placement at the Arc.
Competencies Gained
Reflection & Application
After the first conversation I had with the Carlson Center coordinator, I was upset that I was told my placement at the Arc wouldn’t be possible. However, after this conversation I had to reflect on why I felt so passionately about being placed there and why I think it would be an amazing contribution to my social work education. After this reflection, it was easier to advocate my position to other’s because I had a better understanding of why I wanted to pursue this placement in the first place.
Personal Values
I have a high value for working with people with disabilities, which I have learned through my work at Camp Patterson. Knowing this, I want to focus my Social Welfare education on supporting people with disabilities. Initially, I was told to look at the pre-listed service sites for our curriculum to see if there were centered around disabilities however none of them served this population and the closest thing was tutoring adolescents which is not relevant. In order to be placed at a service site that aligned with my personal values, I had to advocate for why it was necessary to better support my education and professional development.
Goals during my internship:
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Better understand the institutions that relate and support people with disabilities
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Gain further understanding of the resources and support systems available to people with disabilities in the King County area
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Gain more experience in working with clients to ensure that their own needs are being met and that the services provided are in their best interest and promote their right to self-determination.
Looking Forward
Idea Generation
When I first decided I wanted to pursue my internship at the Arc, I went to our CSL coordinator through the Carlson Center about how I met with employees form the Arc who were willing to allow me to intern there for my BASW curriculum. Since I didn’t have a pre-existing relationship with the site, even though this was two months before our CSL registration, I was told that it was not possible and I should just find someone else. However, this was something I felt very passionate about and I kept generating ideas of people I could talk to in order to accomplish that task.
Follow-Through
This was an incredibly long and difficult process that required me to email and have the same conversations with several different people in order to make my service site at the Arc possible. I was told no multiple times which caused me to set up appointments with someone else, having to follow through with every appointment and phone call to communicate with the different key figures. However, if I would have listened to that first “no” and wouldn’t have continued fighting for this placement, I know for a fact I would not be in a CSL site that would relate to disability rights, which is the main focus of my social work education.
Advocating for a Point of View
During this process, it would have been easier to accept defeat and try to find another meaningful placement rather than fighting for an internship at the Arc. However, I knew that I wanted to receive more disability advocacy education than is not being taught through the BASW program and truly had to advocate for myself regarding my own desire to pursue an internship that was more closely aligned with my passions. I felt frustrated because I didn’t feel like the figures who decide our CSL placement understood how impacting disability is within our society and important it is to be aware about. Not only did I have to advocate for my own perspective, but I also had to advocate how important it is to be educated on disability rights.
Positive Attitude
Being told no multiple times, no matter how much effort is put in, can be very tough to hear and will take a toll on you. However, thorough this experience I realized how important it was to keep a positive outlook on the situation and focus on the end goal rather than all the obstacles I had to face. The situation would most likely not have resulted in my favor if I approached it with a negative attitude and unwilling to sit down and talk through my concerns and beliefs on why I think this service site placement would be incredibly beneficial for my future.
My nametag at the Arc. Each person in the office gets their picture posted outside their desk.
In my life regarding taking opportunities, I often give up too easily. I will think that there are others who deserve it more or that I am unqualified. I used this opportunity to fight for something I really wanted, to work at a service learning site that I truly felt passionate about, and made it happen. There were many times during this process that people told me “no”, it wouldn’t happen, or it was “too late” even though I worked for this for well over a month to make it happen. This experience helped teach me that I really need to fight for what I want and advocate for myself because I realized no one else is going to do it. If I feel passionately enough about something, especially if it’s centered around an issue pertaining to an oppressed population, then it is important to fight for.