My internship adventures

Right now I am working for BYU as an intern in the Flourishing Families Project in the School of Family Life. Being a part of this project has been a huge blessing in that it has enabled me to work and get school credit while I have been so sick with my pregnancy. This experience will also open doors for me to go to grad school and to have several excellent contacts and points on my resume that can help with job applications and such in the future. It is also a blessing because most internships not only do not pay for all the work put in, but you often have to pay to participate. I was one of ten students who were chosen out of many that applied to be on the Provo team of researchers. We are collecting data from 200 families in Provo and 500 more in Seattle. Staying here has enabled both Russ and I to continue our schooling during the summer months, and not move or change jobs etc.
This internship is also great because it allows me to get hands-on experience and apply the things I have been learning in my classes. The job includes several different responsibilities, but mainly my research companion and I are in charge of contacting, setting up appointments and collecting data from about 40 families during the summer. When we go to each home, the parents and the specific child in the study fill out a rather lengthy survey and discuss a subject of conflict for 5 minutes while being video recorded. Then we take the surveys and video and check them for mistakes, scan them and put them in the computer system and on a dvd for them to be coded and entered into a statistical program for future analysis.
My favorite part is interacting with the families. Each one is so different and I enjoy seeing how little differences can completely change the atmosphere of the home and the dynamics of the family's interactions.
I am also working on a special project with one other girl on the Provo team as part of our responsibilities that enable us to get credit for the internship. We are creating a book of remembrance to document how the project got started, what the project does, and why it is so important, among other things. We are just getting started, but this is something I am very excited to do.
All things considered, this internship is a huge blessing and I am so grateful to be a part of and make a difference!