Farewell My Darling Misbehaved Children

Today is my last day of internship at American Children’s Home:( I am so sad. I am really gonna miss these people. I come here on Thursday for a couple of hours but will leave for a seminar celebration before any of the clients get back from school. At about 3:30 today, the other interns and myself are going to say our farewells to all of the kids here. It’s crazy how I thought that I would hate this place at the beginning of the school year. Although the work may not always be easy and situations are not always fun to deal with each day that I have been here has been a new opportunity to teach, serve, and learn. I have some interesting ties to this place as well. I found out that my great-uncle came here for schooling when it was an orphanage because his dad was one of the founders. I met a fellow Erwin High graduate, who is a social worker here. And she’s black! OK, that might sound bad…but there are two reasons this is surprising. The first is that it is amazing to find a person from Erwin outside of Asheville and actually working. For that individual to be an African American is just astounding because Erwin is way out yonder and ain’t many a black people out there. Anyways, enough with that. I have learned a lot from this experience. Not just necessary skills to be a good social worker. I realized that I had unrecognized beliefs/prejudices, hidden fears, and unknown strengths. The kids have taught me more about how to be an effective social worker far better than any courses I have ever taken. I love and will dearly miss my juvenile delinquents!