Let the internship search begin!

As part of any program you complete with Chicago Center, you will complete an internship placement. The summer session has the following requirements: 

• Four days/week
• 32 hours/week
• Six weeks of placement 

Our internship search began at the Chicago Center classroom when meeting with Lane, Scott, and Whitney. We were all given sheets of paper that gave us each a list of potential internship placements based off of our interest that we gave when we applied to the program. We were then given multiple sheets that gave us helpful tips on how to search for internship, call potential employers, schedule interviews, completing interviews, and then accepting positions. These papers were fantastic! The Chicago Center did a great job on how to complete this search and choosing an internship that is a great fit for each person individually. Before hand, we were all incredibly nervous to see how the search would be conducted, all of our nerves were calmed immensely after this. 

My internship search went a little bit like this... 

I was given my sheet of potential employees and to be honest, I was not expecting my list at all. My views and goals changed since I have applied for Chicago Center. I came in thinking I wanted to intern in a social organization such as UNICEF, environmental organizations such as PERRO, or a financial organization that provides financial planning services to those who cannot plan them themselves. My list did not consist of the organizations listed above and consisted of mainly environmental and park organizations. The first day of my search was mostly researching and calling companies and organizations--got two interviews! The next day I also called more organizations and landed two interviews! We were given a "script" by Chicago Center on how to call and say what needed to be said without saying too much, it must have worked because I landed interviews. The interviews themselves were not what I was expecting. They mainly all consisted of conversation asking about Chicago Center, my college and activities I complete in and what I am hoping to gain from this internship. I completed four of these interviews and making a decision was much harder than I ever expected. It was difficult because I am still struggling with what I want to pursue when I graduate. 

Internship Choice: 

My internship that I chose is Friends of the Parks. Friends of the Parks is an advocacy organization non-profit whose job it is to protect the parks. I am looking forward to see what this internship has in store for me for the next six weeks!

Orientation Week: Chicago is more than the skyscrapers

Orientation Week was the perfect way to immerse ourselves and quickly learn about the culture and the numerous neighborhoods of Chicago! Orientation Week began with our trip to Old Town School of Folk Music Italian concert. The next day we dove head first into orientation week! While attending the Chicago Center in the summer or even the fall or winter semester, you will have the opportunity to attend some, if not all, of the following events!

• Old Town School of Folk Music 
• Hyde Park Introductions 
• Broke up into groups and got assigned to tour the Kenwood neighborhood (Lakeshore Drive Bike Path, the Black Pearl School, African goods and sandwich shops, President Obama's house, Muhammad's mansion, etc.)
• Grocery Shopping 
• The Project(s) 
• Documentary about the history of public housing projects in Chicago 
• CTA Orientation
• Lesson on the Chicago's CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) and then given an excursion to go on. My group went to Uptown (Vietnamese neighborhood) and went to Bali sandwich shop and a bakery where we ate snowballs. 
• Thousand Waves Safety Workshop
• RainbowPUSH Coalition 
• Reverend Jesse Jackson runs this weekly forum every Saturday to speak about how to stop violence and crime on the South Side of Chicago 
• Printers Row Lit Fest
• Festival with various authors and literature shows 
• Downtown Loop Tour
• Architectural Boat Tour

• • Introduction to Seminar and Placement Search 
  • Center on Halsted 
  • The largest community center for LBGTQ in the Midwest 
  • Hamburger Mary's 
  • Well known restaurant in Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago
  • Barrel of Monkeys
  • Play with scripts written by young students performed by actors in their 20's-30's
  • LYRIC 
  • Open mic night on the South Side that was focused around supportive and encouraging lyrics 
  • Art Institute of Chicago 
  • National Museum of Mexican Art 
  • Pilsen Mural Tour
  • Tour of Pilsen neighborhood of large murals in neighborhood of Pilsen 
  • Blues Festival- Grant Park 
  • South Side Tour 
  • Chinatown, Bronzeville, Bridgeport, Pilsen neighborhoods 
  • DuSable Museum of African Art and History 
  • PRIDE Parade 
  
  

This has truly been an amazing experience so far, Chicago Center gives us a great introduction to the wonderful city we can call home! It has changed my perspective so much about what Chicago is, it is more than the skyscrapers and the corporations. It is a wonderful city made up of great neighborhoods that weave together this great city.

"Welcome to Chicago!"

"Welcome to Chicago!" is the first thing I read on my orientation packet given to me by the Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture about 12 days ago. For those of you who do not know, Chicago Center is a program out of Hyde Park that "equips college students and other participants to learn from diverse urban communities through innovative programs, seminars, and internships" (chicagocenter.org). Long story short, I am a student from Alma College, Michigan. I will be a junior this fall and I am a Communications major and Environmental Studies minor. Because of Chicago Center I am living in Chicago for the next eight weeks and will gain internship experience and knowledge of the city through the summer program at Chicago Center. 

Upon arrival to Chicago I had mixed emotions about coming here. Eight weeks is the longest time I have been away from home besides when I am at school at Alma College. However, I was mostly incredibly excited to come to a city with such amazing opportunities. I was nervous to see the apartment, neighborhood, and meet me new roommates! Luckily, my mom and my roommate came with me the day before move-in day (June 2nd) to explore the neighborhood and downtown. We visited the American Girl store, Navy Pier, Lakeshore Drive waterfront, architect boat tour, and many other stores on Magnificent Mile! Excitement and nerves were high while awaiting move in day. 

Lakeshore Drive walking/bikng bath (mom, myself, Bre)

Chicago skyline from Navy Pier

June 2, 2015

Move in day is finally here! My roommate that is also from Alma College, Ally, and I showed up to our apartment first and picked out a room and unpacked--good thing for strong friends and dads! We met all of our roommates, it is safe to say we all get along very well and are going to have a wonderful time together this summer! They are all wonderful people from different colleges around the mid-west—Defiance, Adrian, Albion, Anderson, Ohio Wesleyan, and Millikin. The apartment is fantastic! A huge kitchen, living room, sunroom, and numerous bedrooms and bathrooms make it up. After move in, we walked over to the CCULC office and classroom and met the staff and filled out some paperwork. After that, we had our first housing meeting (and I tried Chicago Style pizza for the first time!) We were thrown right into a schedule once our parents left; we attended a show at the Old Town School of Folk Music and saw the Italian band Newpoli preform! They were a mixture of native Italians and Americans, but boy, they were fantastic! The music really stood out to me because you could truly tell how dedicated the band is to their music and their performance. 

Bedroom of apartment

Bedroom/bathroom of apartment 

Apartment living room and dining room 

 Judging by just the past 24 hours, I can tell it is going to be a fantastic whirlwind adventure in the Windy City this summer.