ALL

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All for the Good of All:

Social Justice Internship Final Reflection
Laura Andrea Prieto
Loyola University Chicago
EXPL 390
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My experience as a Social Justice Intern through the Office of Experiential Learning has

allowed me to reflect on what I value when working with a community and become a more

conscious leader. My experience is unique because I worked both in the Fitness department and

the Recreation and Leisure department at Misericordia, an organization that provides services for

adults with developmental disabilities, whereas previous interns have stayed in one location

throughout the year. I learned many things throughout this process such as the adaptability

required when moving from one department to another, different leadership styles by working

with multiple supervisors, and what it takes to propose and implement an idea while balancing

my other responsibilities. My internship introduced me to a service oriented perspective when

working with adults with developmental disabilities alongside a class that provided current and

academic context for community organization. This experience has overall, changed my

perspective on people with disabilities and inspired me to continue working in this field.

I applied for the social justice internship because I wanted to focus on an area that was

related to working with people with disabilities. When I had applied for the internship, I had

recently turned down an offer to continue with Residence Life as a third year resident assistant. I

was yearning to be more actively involved with the Chicago community and knew that although

I would be losing a large financial support that was provided through Residence Life, I had to

pursue something more focused. This led me to applying to the social justice internship and

being selected.

I had known that I wanted to work at Misericordia since I had interviewed. In high school,

I had worked with children who had visual impairments and remember vividly that I had loved to

work with children during their yoga class and other physical activities. I wanted to continue to

learn more about different impairments and disabilities and how I could support and be an ally
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for this community. However, I was also nervous for that very reason, I had never worked or

interacted with a person with a developmental disability for more than five minutes. I was unsure

of how I was going to react and interact with the residents, if they would understand me, and

most importantly if I would understand them.

Meeting my other social justice interns during the retreat made me feel reassured and

validated in my thoughts and experience before beginning my internship. I remember how nave

we all were, sitting around the fireplace not truly knowing what our experience would bring us.

We stayed that weekend in a retreat center in the South Side of Chicago. Each room rooms had

pictures, quotes, and descriptions from famous activists and organizers that were hung up in front

of the doors. My room was associated with a quote by Oscar Romero that read,

Peace is not the product of fear or terror; Peace is not

silence of cemeteries.
Peace is not the silent result of violent repression. Peace is
the generous tranquil contribution of all to the good of all.
Peace is dynamism. Peace is generosity. It is right and it is
duty.
Now, as I reflect on this quote, I realize how my internship was a way to contribute to

the good of all. I worked to learn about the experiences of people with disabilities and be in

community with them as we worked towards fighting against the silence that surrounds the

dignity of people with disabilities.

Part 1: Fall

Starting my internship in the fall was filled with overwhelming moments of realizations,

joy, and growth. During my fall semester I worked at the Fitness center where I assisted with

supervising the residents workout and helped coordinate the flow of people throughout the room.

It was difficult at first, especially because I had never worked with this population before and
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besides a brief memory of children with developmental disabilities being escorted to the special

needs classroom, barely even saw people with developmental disabilities. This culture shock

was difficult for me at the beginning of my internship. For instance, there was a time where I left

for lunch during one of my longer days and broke into tears once I left the building. I was feeling

overwhelmed with being with a group of people that I believed to be so different from me and so

disadvantaged. In the article, A New Professional, Palmer proposes that we must do more

than affirm and harness the power of emotions to animate learning and leadership: We

mustdevelop the skill of miningemotions for knowledge(Palmer, 2007). What were my

emotions telling me? I believe they reflected how I was learning about the injustices that I had

unknowingly been complacent towards for years before my internship. The fact I never had

asked myself about the services available for those with disabilities or how, we as a society, have

continued to exclude those with developmental disabilities. At this moment, I harnessed my

emotions by gaining a critical self-awareness I had not had previously.

As the semester progressed, I began to develop a deeper relationship with the residents. I

was able to distinguish when the residents were enjoying their workout or if they were not

having it. I began to feel comfortable in leading them with courage especially when I would

work with the volunteers and other staff members. These volunteers and staff members knew the

residents better than me and were able to let me know what habits and communication cues I

could use to communicate with the residents. Together we could create a better experience for

the residents. Kouzes and Posner state that, Leadership is a team effortwhere leaders foster

collaboration and build trust (Kouzes and Palmer, pp.18, 2008). More importantly, I began to

see their personalities beyond their disabilities and began to see how similar they were to me-

how we all felt frustration when we did not want to be on the treadmill for more than 10 minutes
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or how we all had experienced times of joy when a Beatles song came on the radio and we all

started singing. I was beginning to feel confident in the relationships I was building.

During our fall meetings, we took a similar approach to analyzing an issue that was

important to us. I chose gentrification and its relationship to art. This was an important issue for

because I was interested in how my presence impacts my environment. As a dance artist and

student, I was interested in exploring the connection between artists and gentrification. I found

that it is not so much the art being a cause for gentrification, however it is more complex and is

associated with the cultural and monetary capital that is associated with arts being more visible

in areas. While this conclusion is relative to the neighborhood and area, I found that it is

important to support local artists and challenge accessibility to the arts in neighborhoods

regardless of income level.

This had me thinking about how institutions affect their environment. Misericordia is a

31-acre institution that shapes the environment in which it is located. By Misericordia being in

the Rogers Park neighborhood I have had opportunities like this internship to be in community

with people who have developmental disabilities. However, when considering how Rogers Park

influences Misericordia I found that this was left unanswered throughout my internship. While I

knew most of my supervisors lived in the area, I did not talk to any of the other staff members

about how they have been influenced by living or not living in the area. This showed me the

importance and value in becoming integrated in a community and taking the time to do so. Most

of my supervisors had been a part of the Recreation and Leisure or Fitness department for at least

ten years. Their proximity to the residents and the endless hours they spent with them

demonstrated and reaffirmed how people are the base of institutions and while the environment

affects the an institution, it is also affected by the people within it.

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Part 2: Spring

During the spring semester I began my internship in the Recreation and Leisure

department. My role was less of a manager role and more of an educator and assistant role.

Throughout the week I worked with several programs including sewing, Showtimers (one of

Misericordias dance troupes), Art classes, Motor Activities Training Program, Musical Bingo,

and Special Olympics. The amount of different activities I was involved in excited me and

motivated me to get to know the residents in different ways. Starting off this semester I noticed a

shift in how I was getting to know the residents. It became more of personal relationship where I

could joke around with the residents and felt comfortable doing so. This relates to the article,

Love, Forgiveness, and Trust: Critical Values of the Modern Leader, that supports how trust is

vital when empowering others and believing in their abilities (Caldwell and Dixon, 2010). It was

at moments where I could joke with the residents that I felt I was developing a greater sense of

trust with them. To joke with them I had to trust our relationship was to the point where they

would consider the interaction as playful. In addition, I had to trust in our ability to develop this

friendly and less supervisory role that I had in the Fitness department.

Working with all the different supervisors from the Recreation and Leisure Department

allowed me to see several different types of leadership and relate to how I could apply the skills

they have gained after working at Misericordia for so long. Each supervisor had something to

offer whether that was an effective disciplinary style or incredible interpersonal commitment to

the residents; each of my supervisors had a different way of accomplishing their programs. For

example, in Sarahs art class the focus was on creating art with the residents, so she led the group

patiently and with the goal of interacting with the residents one on one. On the other hand, when

we were taking times for Special Olympics, my supervisor Eric and Jose maintained a high-
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energy environment that kept the residents engaged and made sure to make their instructions

very clear as each resident had to complete the qualifying task within a certain time frame. This

was my favorite part of being part of each of these programs because each of them had such a

different energy and each of the leadership perspectives fit each of the goals of each program.

During the spring classes, we had several readings about leadership and current issues

surrounding ideas around the election and justice. Our conversations stemmed around the ideas

of how we could make an impact and what type of impact we are inherently making on the

neighborhood around us. Some conclusions that were most salient for me were to vote with our

money and show up. For instance, in part of the book chapter we read, Pieces of a Vision,

Loeb references Alison Smith about our responsibility to be involved across economic, racial and

any other line that divides us (Loeb, pp.266, 2010). This was a point of clarity for me, because

we must continue to be there for each other while also using our source of power within this

capitalist society, which is money, to serve as a means of social change. During these spring

classes, I was able to extract concrete solutions we could follow to move forward. In addition, in

the class we talked about how we can view communities where we live and work from an asset

based perspective instead of a deficit perspective in order to best live and best serve alongside

each other. The community asset map was one of the most productive and challenging parts of

the class because it allowed us to look critically at the neighborhoods and communities around

us, which was especially relevant to how I began to view the residents I worked with at

Misericordia.

Some difficulties I had throughout my internship was completing long term projects I had

started but did not finish, such as a digital fitness log or organizing a closet. I underestimated the

amount of balance it took to juggle my schedule as a full time student and the amount of time it
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takes when collaborating on any project. Setbacks like these were discouraging at first because I

felt that I wasnt making the biggest change that I could. However, reading Johnsons article I

found that it is fine to think that what we are doing is not much because our journey for change is

not just our responsibility, but it is a task that requires all of our efforts. According to Johnson,

we need faith to do what seems right without necessarily being sure of the effect (Johnson,

pp.132, 2005). While this argument is important, I think it is also important to take the input of

the groups we aim to serve that is not influenced by our privileged perspective in order to

determine what is right. Serving someone suggests that we are doing something for someone;

instead we should be working with others to achieve justice together. If we are going to serve

each other, we must strive to truly work with each other and for each other.

During my time at Misericordia, I learned a lot about my identity as a nondisabled

person and how we must continue to serve each other in dynamic relationships where we

constantly are learning from each other. This experience will inform my next steps as I continue

on to graduate school working with populations of children who have disabilities. In conclusion,

I borrow the motto Nothing About Us Without Us, a phrase that is used by Disabled Peoples

Organizations, to emphasize that in order to live a life of service we must be present and

attentive to our needs as a community in order to work towards a peace that is a generous

contribution of all to the good of all.

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Reference List

Caldwell, C. & Dixon, R.D. (2010). Love, Forgiveness, and Trust: Critical Values of the

Modern Leader. Journal of Business Ethics. 93:91-101

Johnson, A.G. (2005). Privilege, Power, and Difference: Second Edition. Boston, MA:

McGraw Hill

Kouzes, J.M. & Posner, B.Z. (2008). The student leadership challenge: Five practices for

exemplary leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Loeb, P.R. (2010). Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in Challenging Times. New York,

NY: St. Martins Press

Palmer, Parker J., (2007, November). A New Professional the Aims of Education Revisited.

Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning.