Kind of...I'm having my wisdom teeth out tomorrow, so I figured I would go ahead and post now, since I will be rather incapacitated when I would normally make my posting. This week has been CRAZY. There's a to-do list on my desk that's like a mile long...and I walked in this morning and had to spend an hour on something Jo needed help with, she's writing a grant for WVUBI to get some money from the stimulus package that's out right now. I had a couple articles to post yesterday that Matt wanted me to work on - I have a FIELD TRIP next week to go on that I am super excited about (even though I'll have to play more like a journalist..that's ok) and the huge project that Dusty wants me to work on that seems like a super massive thing to really get into this late in the game, but he said that he didn't expect to finish it before I left, so that's ok too. It's just a general framework for something they've never done here before (kind of like an annual report) so whatever I do will be a helpful guideline for whoever comes after me. I'm waiting on Matt to get back from lunch so I can ask him about this thing that I'm not really sure about - I vaguely remember him telling me about it yesterday, and I wrote a short note on it, but since I got like five assignments yesterday and this was something he told me just to do "whenever" I must have not listened as well as I should have. Something about Morgantown though...I've got the notes in front of me. But I don't remember how he wanted me to compile the information...it's on the website, the first version of it, and he just wanted me to update the website with more current statistics (since they haven't done it in about four years). Thursdays are always a little different than other days, because I stay longer than normal and I'm here while every one else has lunch - so if I have a question, I just have to wait and do something else until they get back. I hope I did what Jo wanted me to for that grant - it is two pages in like a questionaire format and she just wanted me to use information that they had previously put on another grant that had been written a while ago - she was working all the numbers and (I'm guessing) the bulk of the grant itself, and she just told me she wanted me to make it "flow" (she is always really hard on herself, saying she can't write and whatnot...I'm sure this is not the case and either way...I'm here! PWE Intern to the rescue!) haha...no, I felt pretty important though, because in part of the previously written grant, there was a section dedicated to what the WVUBI does for tenants, all the survices we provide them, and "expertise in professional writing" was one..teehee. I loved that. I love how people come to me and ask my opinion on stuff, or they just automatically assume that I know better than they do how to "professionally write" something. Its a really cool feeling. I had a meeting with Dusty this week to discuss this project he wants me to work on, the annual report they've never had before, and he scheduled a time with me and got the room for us and said he valued my opinion and was really listening to what I had to say - it's a really awesome experience to be in this kind of situation, I didn't really think I would be treated like this in an internship (and I'm sure my colleuges may not be having the same experiences I am...it's just that the WVUBI is very...young.) Not that being young is a bad thing...I wanted to say hip and fresh and new and inexperienced and kind of flying by the seat of their pants...there is not a feel of any of this being a negative thing, everyone here is very professional and there is no question of their work ethic or anything of that sort - but I think in another company, being an intern wouldn't be this experience of feeling that my opinion and knowledge matter....really matter in the workplace. They really treat their inters with respect - I'm sure it would be different somewhere else if there was some sort of writer or editor on staff, and I was under them, persay. I hope I am making myself clear here.
Shame on me for all of that being one paragraph.
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I really wish I had the opportunity to work on writing grants. Did you ever cover this in a class you took? Do you know if they offer any classes that include grant writing? Did you seem to learn a great deal from this experience, or did you already know from previous skills?
ReplyDeleteDenita asks a great set of questions here.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I'm thinking as I "read between the lines" of your post this week. Your position seems to require you to be able to work with, communicate with, manage relationships with many different people in the office, people in different positions, people in different power-relationships to you. What specifically are you learning about how to manage your communication in these different relationships? (I'm thinking here about the types of things that Sherry Southard discusses in the article "Protocol and Human Relations" that we read for the second class.) What are your learning about assessing human relations and managing communication in the organization that you can apply to future workspaces?
Vanessa,
ReplyDeleteIt seems like you have quite a workload in your internship--and I thought I had a lot!! It is a good thing since you get to write a variety of different documents. It is good that you feel more than comfortable there and everyone likes to hear your input. I felt the same way this week,even though I wasn't asked for input. One of the workers, that had taken over "my desk" as I think he had been away for an extended period or something just came in and talked to me about things outside of work and really made me feel at home. It makes you feel special...when you just feel like "the intern." haha. :p
I think it is great that you get to work on a variety of things. I am just working on one document. It would be great to learn about a variety of documents. I only work with one person, my supervisor. However, she does take my opinion seriously and asks me questions about the manual that I am writing. I agree that it makes you feel good when you aren't treated as "just an intern."
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