Kyle Lintao
Student / Dreamer
ABGC Garden
Interning in the ABGC Garden has been such an impactful experience for me. Some of the specific skills I honed and developed were effective communication, organization, and commitment to work. These skills were necessary to complete my internship. Effective communication was the most useful and developed of these skills. At the garden, I mostly worked with kids from the third to seventh grade. As one would expect, each of group was rowdy and full of energy. It took a large amount of patience and sympathy to finally connect with these kids, but it was well worth it. They were very creative and fun with thier daily garden journals, with something extrordinary every day. The other two skills were applicable to all aspects of my life. Before the internship I was not a very organized person, and my commitment to anything other than sports was easily swayed. This experience helped me to hone these skills. After a rough start keeping my commitments to meetings and keeping my schedule organized, i started to get it down. I kept a weekly calendar of when I should be coming in and what grades I would be assisting with, and i made it a necessity to check and reply to any email reguarding me doing my job well. This was a very moving experience and I would highly recommend it.
Internship Hours
Internship Logs
Week 1:
Although this first week was challenging, I finally got into the flow of how things are run. I learned the importance of communication and being organized. I had missed a few meetings and come in late which was insubordinate and inexcusable. Other than that I had a good week with the kids. The third graders were a lot more cooperative than the other grades. I think it was more out of curiosity of who I was than respect. My favorite activity to do with them was picking the tomatoes. They were juicy and fresh. It was nice to get fresh food from a real garden.
Week 2:
This week went by a little more smoothly. My organization has gotten better, but i was still late on Monday and Thursday. There is much room for improvement. The students have become a little more comfortable with me. For some that meant rowdiness, and for others, that meant respect. It has been a fun week. I got to help the kids with their garden journals, I updated the garden map, and I also uploaded the pictures i took the the garden album. My favorite part of the internship so far is taking pictures of the beautiful garden.
Week 3:
This was by far the smoothest week. I have finally got my time management organized. I was never late to the periods in which i was needed, and sometimes I was even early. I finally learned how to manage the kids, and even befriended them. It required a lot of patience on my part and a lot of understanding on theirs. The biggest challenge this week was keeping the kids in control while they shoveled dirt. The dirt got everywhere and only a handful of them followed the rules they were given, but i finally managed them. This is the last week of the internship, and i can confidently say that I learned a lot. Time management, responsibility, and patience are among the most valuable skills that I have acquired.