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THEN
From: St. Leonard, Maryland
Internship: Assistant in the Child Development Coordinator Center at Angel's Watch Regional Shelter
Location: Hughesville, Maryland
When: June- August 2003
The Experience:
I worked at the Angel's Watch Regional Shelter for my first internship experience one last summer. Its function is for child development and to help homeless mothers and children. The shelter provides a lot things such as food, clothes, school supplies, transportation, and activities for fun and enjoyment. My responsibilities/duties were to supervise children, teach sign language to the children and mothers, create lesson plans for the family camp, set up the field trips, modeling appropriate parenting behavior for mothers, and inventorying supplies. I learned through my experiences how to make lesson plans for activities for appropriate levels for the ages of children according to their abilities and skills. I learned how to communicate without interpreters with all the mothers and children, who were all hearing. It was a very challenging experience. I had to keep an open mind to talk about problems that appeared and try to resolve them.
NOW
What are you doing now: taking time off, working, and/or going to school?
For the past two years, I have been a Special Education teacher at the Virginia School for the Deaf, Blind and Multi-Disabled at Hampton, Virginia. I work with deaf children who have multiple disabilities and behavior problems. I teach various subjects such as math, reading, writing, science, and social studies.
Do you enjoy working and/or going to school?
I enjoy teaching my six deaf children at VSDBM-H, but I realize that my current position as a Special Education teacher is not for me, I would rather be making more use of my background and experiences in deaf education. Therefore, I am seeking another job with deaf children at any deaf school for next year that would match my background. I am glad I had this opportunity so I could learn how to work with deaf children and their special needs.
Do you think your FCS major or your internship benefits you now?
MY FCS major and internship have provided me with valuable learning experiences and helped me to work as a Special Education teacher with deaf children. Those majors/internships really helped me to decide what I wanted to do in my field.
What is your advice for future FCS majors/minors?
My advice is to encourage FCS majors/minors to decide what they want to do in their field(s) before they graduate from Gallaudet. I encourage them to explore as many experiences as possible to find the right career. I also encourage them to use Gallaudet career counselors to find employers who have openings in their organizations and who are willing to hire deaf employees.
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