The Internship Process

A park near my school.

 All year I've been thinking about starting a blog once I started internship.  I wanted a place to post pictures and reflect on new experiences and keep friends and family up-to-date.  But I didn't want to start until internship actually started.  However, as the internship process has suddenly and unexpectedly started over for me, I realized that I might need to reflect on that too, and be able to keep everyone up-to-date.

The normal process for my seminary is (in a nutshell):

• January: the contextual education office finds out what sites the school is assigned.
• February: the supervisors of the internship sites all visit the same week and interview with the students.  Both the supervisors and students reflect on how the interview went and turn in the reflections to the contextual education office.  
• March:  The contextual education office assigns each student to a supervisor and a site.  Once the board approves these matches, the students and supervisors are told.  Once the supervisor has contacted the student and both the student and supervisor signs off on the internship, a public announcement may be made.
• August: internship starts.  

This process went fairly smoothly for me...at first.  I interviewed with nine different supervisors, seven of which I thought I would work really well with.  The week before Easter, my class gathered together to learn of our sites together and I was assigned a wonderful church and supervisor.  I was really excited and looked forward to talking to my new supervisor and making a public announcement.  After a week of waiting for my supervisor to contact me, I finally called the church myself to reintroduce myself.  Instead of reaching the pastor, the church council president talked to me and broke the news to me: they couldn't take an intern next year.  I want to be really clear here: the internship wasn't terminated because they couldn't financially support an intern and it has nothing to do with my person, and it wasn't anyone's fault.  Someday they will be able to have an intern - and both the pastor and congregation will be great assets to that lucky intern.  But that is all I'm going to say on it.  I wish them nothing but the best and they will remain in my prayers for the next couple of months. 

Because I now no longer have a site for next year, and all of the sites that my school was assigned have been filled, I have to start the interview process over again.  The director of the contextual education office has sent out an e-mail to the other Lutheran seminaries to inquire after open sites.  So far, I know of one (which I'm REALLY excited about).  I have a meeting with the director on Monday morning to discuss this site and any other that she has found since I've last spoken to her. 

The day that I found out that my internship site had been terminated for next year was a really long, fear-filled day.  But it's the Easter season and I am surrounded by a wonderful, Christian community who has continued to support me as I restart this process. 

Be not afraid, sing out for joy! Christ is risen, alleluia!

Be not afraid, sing out for joy! Christ is risen, alleluia!

ELW 388