I just had my first week of my internship working at the Strive center through St John of God Dublin South East Services. My first week experience was very eye-opening. I met and introduced myself to all of the service users at the Strive center, who were all very kind and welcoming. They introduced me to the general day-to-day activities they do as well as some of the ground rules they have established to make Strive such a supportive and caring community. Each day every service user has a timetable they follow in which everyday of the week they have various different activities they follow.
There are a variety of activities they offer, such as archery, athletics, bowling, cooking, working out in the gym, advocacy group meetings, basketball, tennis, dancing, and many more. For my first week, I really got to know the service users as I accompanied many of them to their activities. We spent a lot of time walking and talking to one another which gave me the opportunity to connect with each of them on a more personal level. I was initially worried that I would struggle with all of their names, but I realized that after they each shared a little bit of their wonderful personalities, it was actually really easy to remember each of their names. My responsibilities in this job really consist of helping them with their daily activities, but also to just make them feel happy in their environment. The whole framework of St John of God and Strive is to foster a comftorable community where people are welcomed and accepted into the community. And from what I saw first-hand, I believe Strive accomplishes this very well.
The objective of Strive is to help service users become more independent in their lives so they can eventually become part of a community where they will be fully self-reliant. Some of the service users are being trained to work jobs where they can make their own money. For example, on certain days of the week, one of the service users goes to a coffee shop where they work as a barista. And another one works at a local grocery store on Fridays. It makes me so happy knowing that this is possible for them to attain this level of independence. I bet that they probably feel a lot of satisfaction as well. Even though it is only the first week, I found myself getting more and more attached to the service users. Whenever one of them didn’t show up to Strive one day, I realized I was a lot more sad and worried than I would have expected. They have such a high level of emotional intelligence that I believe many adults lack. Sometimes they can even tell how you are feeling before you yourself know how you are feeling. It is a very impressive skill that is present in a lot of them.
On the other hand, I think I have to learn to be more firm with the service users. I noticed that the other servicer providers I work with are extremely good at setting boundaries and enforcing them. And they are especially good at being firm with the service users, whenever they cross that boundary, in a manner that is respectful, patient, and not aggressive. I believe that this skill is really impressive because you are able to let the service user know that they have done something wrong in a way where they do not get upset. This is a skill I definitely need to practice because although I can set boundaries with them, I need to learn to enforce them in a healthy manner. During my first week I was very focused on making great relationships with everyone, which I believe I accomplished, but now I think I should shift my focus more towards teaching them lessons of what is and is not okay.
Managing my time at the internship hasn’t been too bad so far. I think there is a decent bit of downtime where I can focus on other tasks and school assignments that I have to complete. The daily activities the service users have to complete keep me on schedule as I just follow them as a helper. My tasks involve watching over them and just overall being there to accompany them. There are some obvious things we have to watch out for, such as making sure they are aware of crossing the streets in a safe manner, but they are all pretty aware of their surroundings.
The staff and service users have been so kind and supportive. Ultimately, I am super excited to continue working at Strive, being helpful and supportive in any way I can be!