Overall Insight About My Experience with The Red Project

I only have two weeks remaining at my internship with The Red Project and I can honestly say it’s very bittersweet. Looking back I have learned so much from my experience there and it’s been awesome how many great people I have had the chance to meet and interact with. Things were not always easy, and in fact there were times I got very frustrated, but I stuck it out because this cause and these people are now apart of me.

There are many ways my education at U of M has prepared me for this internship but there are many ways it has not. Lets start with how it has. First of all, my biology background helped out quite a bit when I was going through my HIV Test Counselor training because I already had some prior knowledge about the biology of HIV. This also came in handy for when I did my research for my presentation on Hepatitis C because I already was familiar with a lot of the scientific terms involved with viruses. Another aspect of my U of M education that prepared me for this internship was being exposed to a diverse group of people. I’ve learned to listen about where others come from and become aware of the immense differences between people, but also be able to make many connections. To my surprise though, Grand Rapids is a much more diverse place than I initially realized and I’ve almost felt more exposed to diversity here in my own hometown compared to Ann Arbor. But because of my classes like IGR and a lot of the Women’s Studies classes I’ve taken, it’s helped me open my eyes to what I can learn from a diverse community and I’ve definitely taken advantage of that during my time at The Red Project.

What my education at U of M, has not taught me is what the real world holds, and in my opinion this is what a lot of college experiences lack. College is an awesome time of our lives filled with the ability to choose our own path, register for so many different kinds of classes and be involved in numerous extra curricular activities but what does all of that really mean? I am a TRUE believer that in order to learn about something, you must go out there and experience it yourself. I’ve learned more at my internship with The Red Project about HIV, Hepatitis C, overdose prevention and non-profits than I ever would have been able to in a classroom. That is why I think there is so much pressure for college students to get summer internships and go out and experience the field they want to go into before settling because it makes a world of difference. Almost anyone can sit in a classroom, memorize equations, read textbooks and do their homework, but it takes a dedicated, knowledgeable and experienced person to commit to a job in a certain field and stick with it.

A fellow co-worker and I modeling our matching "This is Red" t-shirt in front of the office.