Final Paper Internship Insight 1

Insight of the Internship Final Paper

Jake Antezana

CMAT 495-001 Internship in Communication

David Burns

Salisbury University

Spring 2017

May 15, 2017

Internship Insights
There was once a young man, he was the son of a king, but not just a

king, he was son of the king that ruled over land that was farther than the

eye could see, but also was more powerful than any other kingdom around at

this time. The son had always dreamed of becoming king, but he enjoyed

learning from his father, and although he felt as if he was ready to take on
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the role of king, he still sat back and watched instead of being active and

getting involved with his father. There came a time of great war and

adversity in the land, and when his father had gone to war to lead his people

he had encountered an enemy he couldnt escape. His father was hit with a

spear that was thrusted his way, and although it did not take his life, he

could not do his kingly duties, therefore the next in line would have to step in

and take care of the kingly duties. Although this would be a short amount of

time that this young man would take over as king he would still have much

to learn before taking on the eventual full time role himself.

This story was one that my grandparents would tell me when I was

growing up, and of course the story had much more detail and many more

side stories, but I completely related this story to the internship I was

involved in this semester. Often when we are involved in communication

roles in life they are leadership roles, now whether that is being the head of

the food chain or being the leader of the group, people who know how to

communicate often play a pivotal role in organizations across the globe. This

is specifically true for the organization I interned with this semester,

YoungLife. Overall, YoungLife this semester taught me that leaders are often

the servants, leadership is supported by people who buy into your system,

and most importantly leaders lead by doing and not saying. Throughout the

course of this paper I will discuss: what I learned about communicating with

a network of people to attain a common goal, the things that I didnt expect

about this certain internship and what it means for my future in ministry,

how I feel about my future career choices, where I fell short during this
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semester, the specific area that I enjoyed the most and took the most pride

in, and finally I learned what this internship really means for my life, and I am

forever thankful for it.

This semester has taught me an insane amount about what I will be

doing in the future, it actually blows my mind how much of an impact

communication has on pretty much every field or profession out in the world

today. My internship was done with YoungLife and this organization is

centered around kids in Middle and High Schools, and then in those schools

we also have programs for the special education students, this organization

is really focused on mentoring kids and being there for them when no one

else is, and especially when no one cares to be. One thing I oversaw over the

course of the semester was a couple of teams of college students who were

in place at high schools and middle schools in Salisbury. I had been involved

in youth groups when I was back home and we always had great spiritual

leaders and then in college I was involved in FCA and Bible Studies, but had

never taken on the role of being a head of one of these organizations. This

semester taught me that it looks 100% easier than it actually is, when going

about my life and college I was always like all they have to do is meet and

discuss stuff, it cant be that hard and what I found out was that it is so

much more than that and that these people should be paid an enormous

amount of money.
This semester I had dealt with an enormous amount of stress and

honestly just dealt with life, and it felt as though when everything could go

wrong it did, but also felt that when everything could go right it did that as
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well. In my life my goal is to become a pastor and to lead my own

congregation in my own church. This semester was a little taste of that as I

was able to lead my peers and my congregation which was actually middle

and high school students. This semester gave me a brand-new appreciation

for what these leaders do, and also gave me an incredible understanding of

what I will be exposed to and expecting when it comes to my future career

as a pastor.
I had to manage two separate teams of college kids, and this in itself is

a tough challenge because each of these students has a life of their own and

struggles they face, whether it be financially, physically, mentally, and the

list could go on. I had to learn a great deal of patience with people, as when I

tried to set up meeting times, people could not make them all the time, if we

had specific events planned certain people would text me an excuse to why

they didnt come. At one point in the semester one of my peers that I was

leading actually decided to quit, and the way he told me was through lunch

and it took me by surprise because this was in the middle of the semester

when I needed his help the most. He ended up coming back and helping

about two weeks later, but I had to outline and discuss new parameters for

him to be involved in. This also helped me manage my teams better as we

set more strict standards and guidelines which we would end up following

the rest of the semester. I learned that being a leader and communicating

with a group is much different than being part of a team and communicating

that way, it requires more preparation and much more behind the scenes

work. Overall there were many things that I didnt know about leadership in
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ministry and this semester helped me understand some of those hidden

nooks and crannies of ministry.

Overall there were many things that shocked me this semester some

were good and some were bad. I would say one of the things that was a

great surprise, and maybe should not be a total surprise was that my

internship supervisor was extremely helpful during this whole semester. It

was great because I did not expect him to hold my hand throughout this

whole process and he actually did not, but he was very respectful of my

leadership position and really confided in me throughout the whole process

he would point me in a direction and I would go. I really embraced the whole

aspect of this is my ministry and I ran with it, and honestly there were

times when I struggled but also times where I thrived, but Dave was there

and he checked on me regularly. He was the one who initiated contact at

Bennett Middle and also with the Mayor Jake Day, I really appreciated him for

those moments, because those were things that I did not have access to. He

was there when I needed advice and he always gave me great examples of

what he did in certain situations, but he also challenged me to use those

situations and apply my own skill set to them and make them my own. I was

challenged every day to use what I know and who I am to deal with

situations. Dave never bailed me out of a situation, but he was always there

if I needed a word of advice or most of the time it was prayer that I needed.
The thing that surprised me the most was actually what I learned

throughout this whole experience in regards to community. I learned that in

this type of work, which is ministry, you NEED a community of people who
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are going to be there to support you and have your back no matter what the

case may be. Whether you succeed and get all the recognition, whether you

fail and get all the blame, whether you succeed and get no praise, and

maybe most importantly when you fail and get no blame, they keep you

accountable. In community, it is extremely important to have that mentor

and leader that can guide you and that understands you, and Dave taught

me that this semester. I know that for me to be successful in the near future I

need a strong leader in my life, as should everyone, my boss told me this

semester that the day you stop learning is the day that you die and I

intend to learn many things over my time in pastoral ministry. Throughout

this internship I was given glimpses of what my future looks like in regards to

leading others and learning how to be a servant, and I wouldnt trade this

experience for any other internship opportunity.

In doing this internship I learned many things about what my future as

a pastor would look like and it entails many things I did not know about, but

am now more conscious of. In the course of this semester I encountered

many trials and tribulations, but I also experienced many extreme joys and

upsides of ministry. I did learn that through this experience that I feel more

compelled to chase after my goal of being a pastor and eventually leading

my own church. I would say one of the things that really confirmed my

decision on this, is that I have developed many fantastic relationships this

semester and so many of them are relationships I could not have

encountered, without the ministry of YoungLife. I learned many things this

semester and a couple of them have to do with leadership and example. I

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learned that when people say do as I say and not as I do are people that

are actually not fit to be leaders. I learned that leadership is selfless and is

someone who puts themselves at the bottom of the totem pole, it is

someone who says I am less and you are more. The reason I loved learning

this is because it actually backs up what I will be talking about and be doing

for the rest of my life, and that is the life of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In Jesus life he lived in a way where He was always serving His disciples and

He was looking for opportunities to show them that its not what people do

for you, but what you do for them that dictates your life. Because after all if

everyone lived for themselves in the world, it would be a very depressing

and sad world. Sometimes in this internship I did not meet the expectations I

set for myself, and that branches off of the living a selfish life.
This is the point where I kind of struggled in the internship, and it came

right after I had some tough luck with my car at school. I had gotten into a

really weird car accident as my car was still drivable, but then found out that

the insurance company would total it. The reason this was so difficult for me

to accept and deal with was because only eleven months before my other

car got into an accident and it got totaled, and I just felt as though I was

never going to get a break. I still did the required things of me from Dave,

but I did not do the above and beyond that I expected from myself. I started

to focus on myself and what I needed to do for me. Although this is what

some people say they need to do, it does not work for a ministry group that

focuses solely on other people and their needs. And although this was for

about two weeks it still impacted the relationships I had with my teams and
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the kids I was leading. But the great thing about it is that it was only a phase,

and I was pulled out of that and was able to get ready just in time for some

important functions in my internship.

In this semester, I was given some great responsibility and was asked

to do some things that I was not familiar with, some of which included:

making a t-shirt, leading a skit on stage at our banquet, overseeing money

drops at Shorebirds games, leading a WyldLife club at BMS, and leading a

couple of YoungLife teams in the Salisbury area, and meeting with Mayor

Jake Day about the status of our youth in the Salisbury Community. In each

and every area of this semester I was always working on something and

towards something, and I am not able to differentiate or pick one that stood

out to me, but I am glad that I was able to complete all of my projects and

complete them to fruition. One of the highlights was that I made a t-shirt,

which can be seen on my website, and it was worn at our banquet for the

Eastern Shore fundraiser. This same shirt will be worn throughout the

summer at all of our camp fundraising events and even when we go to the

summer camps, it will be used to identify our area when we have family

dinners and area recognition nights at camp. This was definitely something I

was very proud of and am very happy with how the design came out. One

thing that I really enjoyed doing was overseeing the money transactions at

Shorebirds baseball games where each kid that comes earns money towards

their camp trip. But I was in charge of carrying and collecting money from all

over the stadium and bringing it to the stadiums treasurer for them to

collect and to see how much money we raised and how much money our kids
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would collect. And maybe the most important thing I did all semester was

lead a WyldLife club in Bennett Middle School, which was a huge step for

YoungLife in the Salisbury area and made history as we were able to have

club in the school which was the first time in Middle School history in

Salisbury. One of my favorite things that Dave and I did together was meet

with the Mayor, and discuss the problems of neighborhoods and problem

areas in Salisbury. It was really great seeing the direction he would like the

city to go in, and hearing some of his plans were inspiring and made me feel

as though I made the right choice with the field I was choosing to go into

after college. Maybe the most important thing I learned this semester in my

internship was that not everything is at it seems, and that most of the time

you have to roll with the punches.

Many times when in school, we had experiences and school work and

projects and many other times while being in school everything that we have

been involved in has been dictated or scripted and has an end goal for us to

accomplish. Thats the reason that this internship was crucial to success and

to really giving me an insight into what I said I wanted to do for the rest of

my life, it gave me an actual taste of what the real world looks like and how

sometimes, when the cards do not go your way, realizing that there will be

another hand and next time that hand no matter what the cards, will be

different. I loved the aspect of this internship because it challenged me and

changed me, it showed me that not everything in life is scripted, not

everything in life has a goal that can be reached in a predicted amount of

time. It showed me that in life we do not have a semester, and that all the
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things we set out to accomplish will happen in a short amount of time. It

showed me that building blocks are crucial and are literally foundational for

the house that will be built on it one day. I learned that not one person can

do it by themselves, but that it takes a team. Just like in football, if we have

11 quarterbacks on the field we are going to lose the game, and the same

thing as if we have 11 offensive lineman. Everyone plays a pivotal role in

your life and in your future, and that it is up to me where I look to for advice

and where I look to for support. This internship did not just each me

something that a course has over the last four years of college at Salisbury

U, it taught me something different, it taught me something applicable. I am

just solely focused on the fact that this course (outside of the classroom) has

been so impactful on my future and my life that I am unsure of where to

even go to thank anyone. I do want to thank Dave Etling, as well as Dr. Burns

for this incredible trip and journey this semester of the Spring of 2017.
In life I have found out that it is more about other people, and that if I

live for myself my whole objective and goal in life really becomes null. In this

paper I have discussed how communication impacted my internship and how

much I saw its importance in communicating with team mates, my

supervisor, and my kids that I mentor. It is crucial to success and it is 100%

crucial to life. Which leads me to how I was surprised this semester and that

was how my Supervisor and mentor for this semester really showed me how

to lead and it was not through walking me through everything, but rather

telling me his life and seeing how I could apply it to my situation, I realized

how much I really needed someone to teach me consistently about life. And
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with this knowledge I then became more confident in my career choice, I

realized that what I wanted to do was not going to be a walk alone, but that I

will have a community around me constantly and will always have the

support of those people and my family. I found out that when life hits you it

sometimes knocks you down, and can even knock you out for a little, but

that doesnt mean that we stop and give up, I learned that perseverance is

necessary in progress. The things I was the most proud of would take too

long to re-list, but I had some projects I had to accomplish and I did them,

with my favorite project being the t-shirt. And finally I learned that this

internship was not just a requirement or something I needed to fill to

graduate, I found that this was the single most thing that could prepare me

for life. And I am forever grateful for that. Finally I do know one thing about

my life, I am living for more than just a funeral.