FINAL REFLECTION PAPER

In January of 2020, I left my hometown and flew halfway across the world to live, work, and study in Rome. This experience brought many surprises, and several unplanned interruptions. Mostly, it brought me to an outstanding group of strong children, their mothers, and a great support system.

            My expectations for my internship were undeniably high. Before my arrival in Rome, I had previously worked with children. In doing so, I saw personal growth and felt ready to take on the challenge of a language barrier while also working with kids. This challenge was something I openly planned for with Dr. Cristiani. In our initial conversations I chose the difficult route, knowing my minimal language skills and unfamiliarity with the Roman way of life.

What I previously saw as successful past experiences became an obstacle to my personal success in my first several weeks abroad. My past experiences had led me to learn a little bit of Arabic and Hebrew but working at KIM was entirely different. After my first day I left thinking “Can I truly do this?”

Expectations, as it turns out, sets limits on real experiences. Was my internship different than my expectations? Absolutely. Would I choose the easy route if I were given the opportunity to do this over again? Not for a minute. I was challenged and grew every day I worked at KIM Association. That feeling of being challenged not only became familiar, but it became fun and comforting during such a crazy time in my life.

In the weeks leading up to my internship experience, I researched KIM, and saw the perspective of past interns. Nothing I researched could have set me up to understand the great impact KIM has on children or the community in Rome.

KIM employees have a special way of making everyone feel welcome. From the first day I stepped in the door to my last day of work, I felt like I was a part of something greater than myself and my JFRC experience. This was because of Salvatore and his work to ensure I felt welcome and heard, even when I didn’t know what to say or how to say it.

Beyond the obvious barriers, I felt that I was valued as more than a volunteer. Given my minimal skills and inability to effectively communicate, I understood the hard position KIM employees were put in. I wish I could have done more, and though that would be my critique of my time at KIM, I know I wasn’t there for the full time so I am hesitant to critique this. They gave me as much to do as they could, given the short amount of time I was present at KIM. 

KIM taught me a great deal about who I want to be in this big world. This experience humbled me greatly and taught me the value of communication. Without words, it’s hard to let others into your life and experiences. However, it is possible. I learned that I enjoy creatively finding solutions to my vocabulary errors with a simple giggle or google translate. I found a knack for working for non-profits that help kids. KIM was a jumping off point for me, but in no way is it the end of my journey to help others and gain new cross-cultural experiences. I look forward to the day I am able to travel again and work with new communities nationally or abroad.

I also realized I’m a lot more emotional than I thought I was. From calling Dr. Cristiani crying when I took the wrong train to being filled with fear as the COVID crisis began to unravel, I wasn’t afraid of showing my emotions this semester. In many spaces, this may be seen as unprofessional, but I feel this vulnerability enables me to make greater connections and succeed in the long term with colleagues. As a woman, I’ve been told to calm down or stop crying a multitude of times, and although I must admit I cry more than an average “academic” it’s within this vulnerability that I’m able to break down barriers. This personal insight is noteworthy as my experience abroad, and repatriation to the states, was an extremely emotional time for me and I believe it’s essential to be honest about it. As I move forward, I will continue to meet others with kindness, make jokes when appropriate, and shed tears when I feel emotional, as that is essential to the human experience.

On my last day of work, I experienced the feeling of success and comfortability. It was on that critical day that everything clicked. And although it would have been beautiful to experience the days that followed, I am forever grateful to have that last day full of learning and growth.

In regard to learning objectives, I had a variety of objectives that I was able to meet and some I unfortunately struggles to obtain.

My first learning objective was “as a result of interning at KIM Association, I hope to improve my Italian language skills, including daily communication during meals and morning activities”. This was something I was able to work on daily when I was on site. I saw personal growth with this learning objective, though I wasn’t able to complete this in full do to the circumstances.

My second onsite learning objective was to “create a crowdfunding event that connects KIM association to the greater Loyola community”. Unfortunately, I was not able to complete this learning objective. As I came to find out, Loyola students are not technically permitted to fundraise for another company. As such, this objective became difficult upon my repatriation to the States. I worked to draft a plan, however, that plan has not yet been finalized. Due to the lack of email communication, and language barrier, I wasn’t able to effectively finalize a plan for KIM’s fundraising team. Further, my fundraising supervisor was not working at KIM during part of the COVID outbreak. This was unfortunate, but nevertheless, I worked on other tasks.

The third and final onsite objective I set out for myself, that also applies to my remote objectives, was to “demonstrate increased knowledge of international non-profit relations”. As this was a completely new experience for me, I felt I succeeded with this learning objective to the best of my ability. I learned a great amount of what KIM works to address and how they support children. Further, I learned the remote side of international non-profits. My work was very much site based, and unfortunately, that took a toll on my remote experience. I again worked and addressed this to the best of my ability but seeing there was a global pandemic that adversely impacted the KIM community specifically, I hope this point can be met with grace.

In looking more specifically at my remote experience, one of my objectives was to “identify ways to connect KIM Association and Loyola University Chicago”. This is something I was successful at, though it took a lot longer than I expected. Just today, I have heard back from the past interns of KIM. I hope to finalize this project the three of us have been working on by the end of the week.

The next objective I set out was to “obtain remote working skills”. This seems to be a lot easier of an objective than others but was something I truly struggled with. Thankfully, I had the support of the other interns that took ROST with me. They checked my translations and provided feedback for me given the time difference between Chicago and Rome. Remote working skills are difficult in it of itself, but adding on a language barrier, time zone differences, and technology confusion, the experience was quite frustrating. A friend of mine, however, gave me great advice after a meeting I had the other day. He said, “lean into the awkwardness of the online format”. This is something I implemented in this past week working remotely, and something I am proud of succeeding at.

My last remote learning objective was to “connect with KIM Association Kids and Staff”. Fortunately, KIM Association has a great social media presence. I was thus able to connect with the kids via social media and connect with my coworkers as well.

I wouldn’t change many things about my internship. If anything, it would be to tell my past self to enjoy every minute and tell the kids how much you appreciate spending time with them each day. In person interaction is something I won’t take for granted again.

In regard to skills, I primarily wish I would have taken up to Italian 102 before studying abroad. This is something I would recommend to any JFRC student, not just one who has an academic internship. KIM Association is based in Italian and in order to be successful in assisting the kids, one must have the language to do so.

The ideal KIM Association intern is not afraid of a challenge, or maybe is afraid but jumps in anyways. They would have a passion for helping kids and learning about other human experiences. They also must have a tolerance for long games of UNO and many laughs. It would be ideal if a KIM intern in the future were able to translate documents and help teach the staff more English, something they have been asking their interns for support in for the past several months. Finally, they must be willing to give it their all. That means many hours of excitement, and emotional days too. That means giving the kids big hugs when one of their friends and house mates are in the hospital receiving treatment. That means participating fully in family style lunches and Italian lessons on Tuesday’s.

A great amount of my experience was grounded in the classroom knowledge I obtained. During our class on Mondays, I was able to work with other students my age and see the “bigger picture” of this experience. I found this especially grounding during my remote experience. Having a small group of like-minded colleagues share in the heartbreak and struggles of this new normal was invaluable. There were moments upon my return when I wanted to give up, not on KIM or JFRC, but just on school in general. Academics didn’t seem all that important in comparison to this huge, life altering, transition. It was because of my classmates that I persisted and continued to engage this semester.

The classroom knowledge I obtained was based on everything from networking to small mannerisms. I learned that facial expressions are very telling, and thus adjusted them while I was on sight. I also found myself unknowingly adjusting mannerisms on site only to reflect upon those changes during class time (i.e. peeling apples before eating them at lunch). This reflection, which frustrated me in the beginning, became the key to my success in the long term.

As such, I think my first meaningful connection of course content was the article and discussion on reflection. I learned to reflect, adjust, and adapt quickly while onsite, and even found myself taking videos after work in order to reflect further. The second connection I made was finding acceptance in the Italian way of being. In the first weeks we discussed how knowledge and instructions are based in on site conversations in Italy rather than email communication. This was helpful to keep in mind as I began working remotely. The third meaningful connection I made was when it came time for presentations. The public speaking course content was crucial to having a successful final presentation. It is because of this information that I am now able to speak about this experience with clarity.

As for the future, I don’t know what this next month will look like, let alone the next several years of my career. I wish I had more answers, but I will do my best in addressing the prompted questions.

This experience will allow me to enter spaces with a sense of humility and grace that I didn’t have before KIM Association. The student promise of Loyola is “Care for myself. Care for others. Care for my community”. I hope to integrate the two experiences and care for others more in the upcoming years of my academic career.

KIM Association and their stance as an international non-profit that works with children from around the world will guide me as I enter both the classroom and new non-profits. I have an increased knowledge of KIM, guided by my learning objective, and I look forward to implementing that knowledge.

KIM will continue to guide my experiences as an Undergraduate student and after graduation. In some ways, this was an experiment to see if I were able to work for a non-profit. I definitely enjoy the atmosphere and look forward to continuing to gain knowledge about other non-profits. KIM also gave me the perspective that working abroad is fulfilling. Although there were moments where I felt challenged and frustrated, I also felt that working abroad is where I belong.

As a Sophomore, I don’t know what the next few years have in store for me or what my post-graduation plans are, but I know I will be centered and find something I am passionate about because of this experience. This is only the beginning of my time as an experiential learner, as I will continue to engage with courses like these in the future at Loyola. One thing is for sure though, my time as an intern through JFRC coordinated by Dr. Cristiani is something I will never forget. I look forward to continuing to grow in gratitude. Thank you for the experience of a lifetime!