Shelby Bartleman

Responsibilities

My internship provided me with an array of responsibilities. I split two roles, hospitality and care coordination. Hospitality involved maintaining the entrance area, answering the phones, talking with clients before appointments and sending out appointment reminders. Care coordination involved participating in client appointments, completing appointment notes, and inputting formal appointment documentation into the client database. Appointments required preparation and collaboration with other care coordinators.

Accomplishments

Without a doubt, my greatest accomplishment during this internship was the relationships I made with both co-workers and clients. With my co-workers, I got to really feel part of a team and was adequately supported and mentored. With the clients, I was able to form real connections and become a safe person for people who don’t have been healthy relationships.

Learning experience

The greatest lesson I learned during my internship was the importance of consistency. I think that one of the most important aspect of building relationships with my co-workers and the clients was consistency. For a lot of the clients that I met, they struggled a lot with trusting people. Consistency definitely helps to build that trust with clients because it shows them that you see them and you care for them. Another lesson that I learned was the importance of communication. Admittedly, I did not communicate in the most timely manner always, it is definitely something I need to work on. However, I was able to see firsthand how communication relates to the success and collaboration of a team. Being an active and effective communicator is such an important skill in any job.

What advice would you give?

The best advice I can give is to be bold, be willing to step out and try something new. So many times during my internship I felt myself internally making excuses to not participate in an opportunity. I recognized the excuses and reinforced to myself that it is okay to try new things. Everything I stepped out to do helped me to be more confident in trying new things.