Child Life
Internship
Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children
August 2020 - December 2020
As a child life student completing my clinical internship, my primary duties consisted of mastering core competencies of a child life specialist through 600+ hours of supervised application in the ER, PICU, NICU, and oncology unit. I administered procedural support, diagnosis education, psychological preparation, therapeutic activities, bereavement support, and medical play for every age group. Additionally, I created a new hospital NICU program that's goal was to extend kangaroo care and implement multiple $12,000 medical device systems that neonates in critical condition could use for the care and support of their neurodevelopment.
Youth Care Worker
June 2020 - August 2020
During the Summer of 2020, I was given the opportunity to come on staff at a non-profit called Under His Wings that provided a residential home and support for adolescent girls that had experienced trauma in their life. The position was created just for me and consisted of a mix of administrative work, and hands on work with the girls. My duties consisted of acting as an advocate, coach, house parent, and role model. I also provided tutoring, community connections, and therapeutic activities. Since I come from an education background, I developed a life skills matrix to show current competencies and skills of each resident. Additionally, I managed the non-profits social media platforms for the execution of marketing strategies and fundraising. ​​
Animal Assisted Therapy
East Alabama Medical Center
January 2020 - May 2020
As a trained animal assisted therapy handler, I had the opportunity to facilitate animal assisted therapy in the adolescent psychiatric unit of the hospital with patients. The patients were between the ages of 12 and 18 years old and had been in the hospital for at least over 6 months. My duties consisted of rounding on each patient and promoting stress reduction through quality interactions with the facility dog and myself. During a session, if the patient was open to it, I would converse with them to help build rapport and support normative social and verbal skills. Most students and non-staff members were not allowed into the long term unit of the hospital because medical staff thought that any type of change would hinder the patients’ success to get better. However, it was interesting to observe people’s opinions change after they saw how my presence and animal assisted therapy actually helped patient’s in their healing process and created a positive environment.
AU School of Nursing
January 2019
At the request of the AU Nursing School, I and several other Child Life students worked alongside nursing students in a hands-on lab environment with children ages 1-16 to learn and model developmentally appropriate guidance techniques. The day was set up with a short lecture to start regarding hospitalization and development, and then child life students were broken up into teams to work with nursing students in several different stations, or medical rotations, with children in simulated stressful situations. This created the opportunity to educate future nurses on the effects of hospitalization on overall development for pediatric patients. Some of the rotations consisted of: communication and play, growth and development, developmental stages, vital signs and assessment, weight and plotting on CDC growth curve.
Practicum
USA Children's & Women's Hospital
May 2019 - August 2019
As a Practicum Student, I had the opportunity to observe and assist with burn wound care and distraction, NG tube preparation and distraction, IV starts, wound care debridement on gangrenous extremities, and provide sibling support and normalization within the hospital. After becoming accustomed to working in the hospital environment, I would often round on patients independently and provide bedside activities. I worked in pediatric, adolescent, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, and the Hematology/Oncology Unit. The hospital can be a scary place, but being able to provide ways for children to play and cope through their illnesses brings a special joy to each health provider's life.
Baldwin County Youth Orchestra Music Camp
| July 2018 |
In July of 2018, I volunteered as a music teacher for the Baldwin County Youth Orchestra Summer Camp. I prepared lesson material, instructed students on the proper use and care of instruments, and I taught classes and private lessons for students learning the violin, viola, cello, and bass. I helped children in whatever capacity that I could and made space to listen to their fears and insecurities. Learning an instrument is not an easy task and it can bring out a child's greatest insecurities. At the beginning of camp the students were nervous and a little lost, but by the end of it, those with attachment issues were able to leave their parents, those that had been bullied were confident in their abilities, and those that were egotistical were humbled.
Trinity Lutheran
Church
Student Intern | 2017
Children's and Youth Director |2018-2019
In the Fall of 2018, I was hired by Trinity Lutheran Church to come on staff as part of the Children's Ministry Team. My primary duties were to assist in planning and executing ministry programs and events, leading small groups, and help develop and grow the after-school program. The opportunity to be on staff at TLC provided me knowledge and skills on the inner-workings of an organization and served as a catalyst for my love of serving people. The children that I served each came with their own set of individual issues. Yet, when they stepped foot in the church they were able to leave it all behind.
SMASH Music Camp
Springhill Baptist Church | July 2018
As part of my Music Practicum that I completed, I worked as a volunteer music teacher at Springhill Baptist Church in July of 2018. I helped teach a piano lab of 5 rotating classes, each with 8-12 students. The fundamentals of reading music and playing the piano were taught, as well as discussion about other topics about music. Music brings out different emotions in children and some children were scared to play the piano for fear of messing up, and some children wanted all of the attention on them. Flexibility and being able to make adjustments to each child was the biggest thing that I learned from this experience. If you as a teacher cannot be flexible then you are hindering your students from maximizing the full potential.
Vacation Bible School
Director and Teacher
For many summers, I have had the opportunity to teach and assist during the week of Vacation Bible School at different churches that I have been to. I was finally asked to be the VBS Director at Trinity Lutheran Church during the Summer of 2019, and I happily accepted. Vacation Bible School is often a churches biggest outreach program into the community and it is a heavy responsibility to take on. Luckily, I had the support of a great church family and was able to complete a successful VBS. Some of my primary duties consisted of: organization and administration, consulting with church staff and recruiting volunteers, developing a budget, planning the VBS time and space, directing different ministry teams, facilitating scheduled meetings, and overseeing key leadership responsibilities as they developed.
Summer Nanny
Fairhope, AL | May - August, 2017
In the Summer of 2017, I worked as a nanny for a family and cared for three children aged 2, 5, and 10 for 2-3 days a week. Being a nanny for the family was much more than just a job and I got to connect on a personal level with the children. We became family and I got to see the children at their worst, and also at their best. We did everything from reading bedtime stories to going to the zoo and when they couldn't sleep, I was right there with them. Children have fears that adults sometimes don't fully understand. If they miss their mom or get upset over a scary shadow, we often dismiss it and tell them to calm down. The most valuable thing that I learned through working with these children is that no matter how small we think the fear is, it's ten times bigger in a child's mind and they need someone to show them that it's okay to be scared and that they can take comfort in you.
Classical Conversations
Parent Practicum Camp
In June of 2018, I taught a class of 23 1st-3rd graders for the Classical Conversations Practicum Camp. The class focused on geography and music relating to the African region. Each day centered around different regions in Africa and I facilitated the learning and performance of an African greeting song at the end of camp. The purpose of this class was to show kids how diverse the world is and to let them experience that diversity through a controlled environment. It was incredible to watch the kids walk through the door every morning and tell me how they had in some way incorporated what they had learned in class to their outside world. Children love the differences about people and we must remember to cultivate that excitement, and not hinder it.
