Rachel King

Anthropology 

Peace Learning Coordinator

How has your internship helped build skills and clarify your career goals?

I think I am going to apply to the Peace Corps in the Youth Development category, so this internship is helping me to gain experience with youth development.

How do you apply your Liberal Arts skills in your internship?

I have gotten the opportunity to work with kids from many different backgrounds so I've been able to use intercultural communication skills, and I've used public speaking/communication skills.

What is the typical day like as an intern, any challenging or exciting aspects?

My typical day involves facilitating activities that encourage peace. Activities involve things like icebreakers, conflict resolution activities, team-building activities, self-esteem-building activities, etc. The most challenging aspect is the public speaking. Part of the reason I chose this internship was so I could develop my speaking abilities in front of a relaxed audience (kids and coworkers), to hopefully build my self-confidence as a result. It's also challenging to teach the kids these profound, important topics in only a few hours in a way that it will stick. The most exciting part is interacting with new people every day. Every day there's a new group of kids, so there are many people to meet from many different backgrounds. Getting to know the PLC employees has been really interesting as well. The most surprising thing has been how difficult it is to control the kids. I haven't worked with large groups of young kids before, so it's been quite an adjustment in mindset and strategies for me. The most meaningful experience so far has been developing relationships with the PLC employees. I have a lot in common with several of them, and I hope to be able to call them mentors by the end of the program.