Student interns for peace
Yazmin Ramos
Issue date: 11/2/09 Section: News
Aside from the two days a week Wade travels to Macomb for classes, her days with the internship typically start bright and early in the office at 8 a.m.
"I have been ironing out a work plan that I will be doing, identifying challenges, doing an outreach. I've been in a lot of meetings with everybody in different entities in the community: the school, the health department, the library," Wade said.
Speaking with people from the community allows her to get first-hand experience on what resources are available in the area and helps her to identify how and in what ways advancing development and improving these resources could benefit the entire community.
Internet research and community outreach play key roles in fulfilling her duties as an intern. Wade's experience in Suriname during her time in the Peace Corps and her exposure to multiple ethnic languages and ethnic communities has deemed as a necessary and positive acquired trait for her current internship position.
"I'm working with the community development committee, and I've recently been facing the challenges of dealing with non-English speaking workers coming to town," Wade said. "There are a lot of swine farms in the area, and there have been a lot of non-native English speakers working on those.
The town really wanted someone to help facilitate integration for these people and make it a two-way integration, meaning make it easier for the people who are new to Carthage to integrate into the community and to make it easier for businesses and community services to be able to work with the people," Wade added.
Most of the non-English speakers speak Spanish. Wade did not study Spanish during her undergraduate years in college. Instead, she studies the language independently.
"I've identified some needs of the non-English community and I've been able to direct them to places," Wade said. "I've been able to coordinate some things, but I did find some challenges. Hopefully I'm on the path toward solving them."?
The encounters with community development have provided Wade with beneficial experience. As time continues to press forward in the internship, Wade will continue to develop more projects.
"I'll be working on a tourism piece here in Carthage which ties in directly with the community development program." Wade said "(It's) hands-on experience that I may not be able to get in another internship."
"I have been ironing out a work plan that I will be doing, identifying challenges, doing an outreach. I've been in a lot of meetings with everybody in different entities in the community: the school, the health department, the library," Wade said.
Speaking with people from the community allows her to get first-hand experience on what resources are available in the area and helps her to identify how and in what ways advancing development and improving these resources could benefit the entire community.
Internet research and community outreach play key roles in fulfilling her duties as an intern. Wade's experience in Suriname during her time in the Peace Corps and her exposure to multiple ethnic languages and ethnic communities has deemed as a necessary and positive acquired trait for her current internship position.
"I'm working with the community development committee, and I've recently been facing the challenges of dealing with non-English speaking workers coming to town," Wade said. "There are a lot of swine farms in the area, and there have been a lot of non-native English speakers working on those.
The town really wanted someone to help facilitate integration for these people and make it a two-way integration, meaning make it easier for the people who are new to Carthage to integrate into the community and to make it easier for businesses and community services to be able to work with the people," Wade added.
Most of the non-English speakers speak Spanish. Wade did not study Spanish during her undergraduate years in college. Instead, she studies the language independently.
"I've identified some needs of the non-English community and I've been able to direct them to places," Wade said. "I've been able to coordinate some things, but I did find some challenges. Hopefully I'm on the path toward solving them."?
The encounters with community development have provided Wade with beneficial experience. As time continues to press forward in the internship, Wade will continue to develop more projects.
"I'll be working on a tourism piece here in Carthage which ties in directly with the community development program." Wade said "(It's) hands-on experience that I may not be able to get in another internship."
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