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  • Marianne Johnson 9:49 am on August 16, 2011 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment  

    From the Depth of Burn Out Comes Light 

    As I watch my fellow bloggers wrap up their internships I find myself applouding them foror a job well done while I sink further into a pit of burn out. Eight months is a long time. I have been at my internship longer than one of my supervisors and three cycles worth of other interns. Thirteen presentations coming to a grad total $53. 34 on my smarttrip and the majority of my sixteen hours a week. I’ve vented and voiced my frustration with my internship but as my last day has come and gone and I have had time to reflect on my time I know I will hold onto memories made and lessons learned for years to come.  (More …)

     

  • Marianne Johnson 2:56 pm on August 12, 2011 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: , , programming, public speaking, technical assistance,   

    Dear Prospect, 

    Dear Prospective Intern,

    From January of 2011 to August of 2011 I was a technical assistance, programming and eucation intern for a non-profit, 501c3 organization that combats teen dating violence through education, training, advocacy and legal services. It is a nationally recognized organization with offices in Las Angels, California and Washington DC. If you are considering a career in education, social work, legal or policy this office provides interns with real world experience and application within your desired field. Even if you have had no prior knowledge of teen dating violence or domestic violence you will learn the basics your first day using their dvd training guide [Ending Violence]. (More …)

     

  • Marianne Johnson 10:35 am on August 11, 2011 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: burn out, over qualified, self care,   

    Staying In Tune With Your Self 

    My last day is Thursday. My supervisors last day is Friday. The supervisor who I have been with one month longer. August marks my eight month mark as an intern and I will be training my supervisors replacement. Yeah…take that in for a moment. The unpaid intern is training the replacement. My feelings on this are undetermined, especially since the replacement I am training  is a fellow intern who will be stepping up as a temporary. (More …)

     

  • Marianne Johnson 8:08 am on August 10, 2011 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: , life lesson, minority, smile, southeast, white girl   

    White Girl in Southeast DC 

    “Miss lady are you lost?”
    “No, I know where I’m going but thank you.”
    The elderly African American women walks to an empty seat on the U5 bus shaking her head. I am the only white person on the bus. I was the only white person on the metro and from the looks of it I am the only white person for several miles. I am struck every time I leave the red line how much of a white bubble myself and many AU students live in, here in Washington, DC. Being the minority is scary. As much as I would like to say that after giving numerous presentation to the far reaches of the metropolitan area I am fearless walking miles from  the metro station to the location being the only white kid but each adventures creates a pit of fear that maybe this is the adventure something happens.  But instead I learned life lessons that I will remember for the rest of my life.  (More …)

     

    • evanw 1:38 am on August 17, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      As a “white” person working in SE I find your article to be insulting. As a resident of DC I found your article insulting. As a non profit professional I find your article insulting. Your article reeks of close-mindedness.

      • Marianne Johnson 4:09 am on August 17, 2011 Permalink

        Can I ask what insulted you as a person working SE, a resident of DC and as a non profit professional? I admit the fact that I live in a bubble of white in the NW and my experience in SE opened my eyes to how sheltered I have been. I apologize that my thoughts and experience insulted you.

    • wcl2012 6:00 pm on August 17, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I’m horrified by this blog post.

    • mladd 7:11 pm on August 17, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I think evanw is insulted as both a “white” person working in SE and as a non-profit professional because you just wrote a blog post about how you constantly fear for your safety because your skin color is not the same as the majority of the people around you. I don’t want to assume who Evan’s employer is, but it may very well be a non-profit directed at helping these people who instill a sense of dread in you every time you are near them. It may also help to point out that no matter where you are, you will most likely come into contact with men who harass women. These men can be of any race or background, and aren’t specific to Anacostia. I think you should have chosen your words more carefully before posting this article, and perhaps focused on the state of our nation’s capitol as a whole, and not just on the fact that African-American people and other minorities live there and it scares you. You may want to consider why there are so many African-American people living in a place wrought with poverty, and question the society you live in, instead of being glad you never have to set foot there again.

    • comradeparrotta 7:51 pm on August 17, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Oh you poor little thing! A sweet lily white victim forced to be subjected to the uncontrollable aggression and unrestrained, insatiable sexual prowess of the savage black man! All while carrying that enormous burden of white privilege on your weary shoulders! At least you got to open your eyes to the big wide world of poor people so you can be confident that you are a compassionate and worldly person before snuggling into your comfy bed in upper Northwest.

      Belch.

      Princess, I lived in Anacostia for a great deal of my freshman year at AU and never once did someone think that I was lost. Why? Probably because I didn’t go around looking at everyone like they were in some kind of poor minority zoo while I skipped along pretending like I’m making a difference in the world. It’s real funny how when you look at people like they’re people even though, gasp, their daddies couldn’t even send them to an elite private school, they kind of respect you. But you don’t need to learn that lesson, it’s not like you’ll ever *actually* need to interact with poor people.

      Just keep smiling. All you have to do is watch everyone else struggle. And they’re not confused, they just think you’re nuts.

    • jeffmindell 8:14 pm on August 17, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I’m confused as to why you would post something like this? You do release that you name is attached to this, correct?

      -Jeff Mindell, co 2011

      • jeffmindell 8:15 pm on August 17, 2011 Permalink

        & yes I realize that I didn’t correctly spell realize.

    • truth 9:18 pm on August 18, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      As a caucasian person I am shaking my head along with the “elderly African American” (which the use of the term “African American” is inappropriate unless you know the woman was in fact from Africa – but whatever you obviously have bigger issues to deal with).

      This whole article is disgusting. I’ve been trying to find a way to communicate with you how wrong this whole idea of you having ‘minority problems’ is but I think it’d be better if I just asked you questions.

      Do you understand that the white race has it the easiest related to minority issues? Issues in schools, workplaces, etc. To say that it’s hard for you to be a minority by going on a bus being the only white person seems insanely ignorant and is. Also, why do you have an issue being around black people? Could you state that please? I honestly feel the same around black people as I do white people as I do any type of race. And what the hell is “dreed”?

    • areyouserious 12:37 am on August 19, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Marianne, you can and you did ask, so I will tell you what is offensive about this post. You claim that “attitude is everything” and imply that the fact that you walk “fearlessly” down the street is the reason you have not had to CALL 911. You mentioned to Evan above, “my experience in SE opened my eyes to how sheltered I have been”. Really? If your eyes were open, you would not have posted this. Please consider the way your words reflect upon not only yourself but the University who hosts this blog and the other students and interns that you study and work with. What you don’t realize is that what saved you from an “adventure” when “something happens” was not your “attitude”. Have you ever considered that maybe you were wrong to be afraid in the first place? My issue with your post is that you say your eyes are open but you attribute the fact that nothing ‘bad’ happened to you to YOURSELF, implying that in fact your attitude towards people in Southeast hasn’t changed at all. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with being reasonably aware of your surroundings and cautious in a place you’re not familiar with but sweetheart, that goes for ANYWHERE. All 4 wards of this city and all 50 states. I second mladd’s post – it is possible for you to get mugged, raped, or ::GASP:: asked for your number on AU’s campus, just like yes, it is possible in Southeast.

    • Bridget O'Connell 4:51 pm on August 31, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      The Career Center designed this blog to enable students to reflect on and learn from their own and others’ internship experiences. The views expressed in Marianne’s blog are her own, and we believe that members of the AU community should be free to debate them, as demonstrated by the comments above. This post has sparked impassioned discussions about important issues that often stay uncomfortably hidden. Our vision for the intern blog is that it remains a platform for dialogue and learning, in this case about assumptions, responsibility, and the power of words through social media.

  • Marianne Johnson 9:01 am on July 31, 2011 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: abuse, emotional, loveisrespect.org, physical, safespace.org, see something say something, sexual, verbal   

    If you see something, say something. 

    I am a survivor of teen dating violence. My senior year of high school I was the victim of an emotionally, verbally and sexually abusive boyfriend. I have been very open about my experience doing talks at the Department of Justice and the University of Maryland breaking down my own experience into DV 101 language to help others better understand or relate to what my internship organization tries to educate people on. Statistic say that 1 in 3 teens is going to be an abusive relationship. Male or female, 1 in  3 teens. The saddest part is that 81% of parents either believe teen dating violence is not an issue or admit they don’t know if it is an issue. Folks, it does. I am a living, breathing example of what happens when teens don’t know what a health relationship is.  (More …)

     

  • Marianne Johnson 12:36 am on July 27, 2011 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: band-aids, deoderant, , hair brush, hand sanitizer, , , , tissues, tricks, umbrella   

    Tips and Tricks of a DC Intern 

    Weather you are just interning in DC for the summer or if you are a year round resident hoping to land an internship in the coming year here are some tips and tricks I have picked up (despite my regret of interning for the summer) over the last few months: (More …)

     

  • Marianne Johnson 5:32 am on July 24, 2011 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: Campus Host, , , Phonathon, sleep, Spring Semester, ,   

    WARNING: This is not what you want to hear. 

    My biggest regret of the summer is taking my unpaid internship for credit. I know this is not what you want to hear given my job description as a blogger but as the summer begins to wind down I am realizing that I should not have continued on and here is why:

    (More …)

     

    • Marie Spaulding 6:26 pm on July 26, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Marianne – I commend you for holding down three jobs! I can easily imagine that you may be a bit burned out. And, it must have been challenging to intern for no pay. I do not know how many hours per week you have been interning, but it sounds as if you have not had much time for sleep.

      I am glad that you “deepened your passion for ending domestic violence and honed your skills as a public speaker,” and, now I hope you can get some well deserved rest.

    • Francine Blume 2:57 pm on July 27, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I don’t think you’re a “Debbie Downer.” If anything, you are a “Reality Rita.” You make excellent points about time management and timing. And people really need to think about these issues, especially undergraduates who need to know that they have to pay tuition if they want to do an internship for credit in the summer, before they sign up for an internship. I just hope everybody knows that whether or not you’re doing an internship for credit, you need to think about time management. And whether or not it’s for credit, the Career Center is always available to help with whatever you might need related to your internship.

  • Marianne Johnson 11:19 am on July 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: , , , volunteers   

    The Importance of the Small Stuff 

    I realize that on the little side blurb it says that, ” At AU, interns don’t just fetch coffee or make copies.” but sometimes the details can be just as important. That has been my theme for the past two weeks: doing the “intern” stuff is not always a bad thing. After six months of interning with the same organization I feel it was time that I pay my dues to the admin department.Working in a small office where time is grant money, the  small stuff  gets pushed off to be done at a latter day that than translates into never. Enter intern here. (More …)

     

  • Marianne Johnson 11:14 pm on June 19, 2011 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: CBS, Child pornography, Juley Fulcher, opinion, , Sex-ting, statutory rape   

    Silly Congress, Sex-ting is for Kids! 

    What do you call a thirteen year old sending a photo of herself scantly clothed to her thirteen year old boyfriend? Is it forplay or is it child pornography? How about a nineteen year old boy sending an explicit text message to his fifteen year old boyfriend?Is it flirty or is it statutory rape? Sitting in my policy training meeting today, myself and my fellow interns attempted to craft a piece of policy to solve this trend. (click to watch CBS report on sex-ting)

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  • Marianne Johnson 3:33 am on June 9, 2011 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
    Tags: age, , domestic violence, , TESSA   

    Domestic Violence and I 

    Last summer I remember walking into domestic violence and sexual assault training through an agency in my hometown of Colorado Springs, Colorado called TESSA thinking to myself, “I’m going to be the youngest one here. No one is going to take me serious because I’m so young. Bah.” I think this is a fear that a lot of interns have that no one will take them serious because they’re the “undergrad intern”, this however has not been my experience. After training I worked as the everywhere intern with my hand in every program TESSA offered including front desk assistance, advocacy, children programing, on-call sexual assault advocacy  and community outreach. I heard the details of victims’ abuse. I made the tough calls to child services to report child abuse. I watched the toll domestic violence takes on the kids. I sat in the waiting room with rape victims. I tabled community events and took the brunt of the public’s reaction and I fostered a passion to help victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. (More …)

     

    • Francine Blume 4:16 pm on June 10, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      What a terrific lesson! And what a strong and committed person you must be to be able to deal with these incredibly difficult issues. Thank you.

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