One thing I found really difficult to deal with while I was in placement was the shortness of the term. It’s really hard to deal with the fact that you are putting all this physical and emotional effort into a cause, knowing that you’ll soon be leaving. As an intern, I knew I had this pending eject button that I could hit whenever I pleased. Though some comes sooner than others’, the reality is that you’ll likely be leaving your placement without finishing what you have started.
For me, it was important knowing in advance that it was unlikely I’d be changing the world with my internship. Though it would be nice if we could all go away for a few months and really become integral agents within organizations that make change. What really sucks is that with the length of the program, I was kind of just hovering within an organization until that eject button got pushed.
I knew I was going home in a few months (or weeks) so really becoming integrated into the culture, the organization, and the cause is, unfortunately, was not something I experienced as much I would have liked. But knowing this before I went was really important so my expectations didn't really get shattered. It’s the reality of the course but if you know this in advance you can approach your internship the right way and really make the best of it. One thing I’m really grateful for, is the preparation before I left, keeping my expectations on the ground and warning me to be weary of pretentious and ignorant volunteerism.