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So the internship is great. Granted it's only the second day, and this week is all training. But everyone I've met is great. The three other interns are very cool. It feels amazing to be immersed in these issues again, like something inside me's been turned on that's been missing all year. It's very interesting to go through training with some actual prior knowledge of the training material. I can actually ask good questions while we're learning about the Pennsylvania-specific DV laws because NH, of course, has a similar system, so it's like I understand how the machine works even though some of the parts aren't what I'm familiar with. I remember NEVER having questions when I went through the AmeriCorps training because it's just information until you've put it into practice. One of the other interns also did this work before and she asks a lot of questions too. The other two mostly just looked fairly overwhelmed, which I certainly understand.
It's also interesting to see the different perspectives of a different agency. Part of it is probably that it's the LEGAL center, so obviously there's a more overt focus on the legal stuff. WSS of course didn't have different branches like that. I mean, there, I was technically one of the legal advocates, but that just meant I was first up to go to court; I did crisis calls too, and peer counseling, and a group, and some community outreach, and pretty much whatever else that came up that needed to be done. And it was so much smaller, and all that overlap gave it quite a holistic feel.
And it's not that I'm anything less than impressed with Woman Against Abuse, even if I am admittedly somewhat biased to my old agency. For having to work on such a larger scale it's certainly very cohesive. And scale, of course, is another huge difference. Initially it seems like WAA has so many more resources - six whole attorneys just for Philadelphia, plus several legal advocates, and some paralegals, and the law stuff is ALL they do, there's a whole other branch for the other stuff. Last year the thought of having just a part-time attorney to do all the legal stuff seemed like the biggest and best dream ever. But that, of course, was rural New Hampshire. In reality they are just as overextended in Philadelpia. It just seems so much more impressive.
Learning the different nuances in the law between New Hampshire and Pennsylvania is interesting. Some of the differences I like, and others, well, they make New Hampshire look progressive.
And even though the commute makes my day a little longer than I'd like, I get such a kick out of taking the train, and working in Philadelphia. Even in this ridiculous heat I think Philadelphia is just lovely in the summer. We ate our lunches in Rittenhouse today and it was just all so very pleasing. And after all my worrying I find I don't even mind getting a little sweaty. When it's 90 degrees out, EVERYONE is sweaty.
In other news, I liked the season premiere of Six Feet Under, but I've decided to stop watching the opening death scenes. The one in the season finale last fall traumatized me for about a week, and the one last night kept popping intrusively into my mind all day. Ugh.
It's also interesting to see the different perspectives of a different agency. Part of it is probably that it's the LEGAL center, so obviously there's a more overt focus on the legal stuff. WSS of course didn't have different branches like that. I mean, there, I was technically one of the legal advocates, but that just meant I was first up to go to court; I did crisis calls too, and peer counseling, and a group, and some community outreach, and pretty much whatever else that came up that needed to be done. And it was so much smaller, and all that overlap gave it quite a holistic feel.
And it's not that I'm anything less than impressed with Woman Against Abuse, even if I am admittedly somewhat biased to my old agency. For having to work on such a larger scale it's certainly very cohesive. And scale, of course, is another huge difference. Initially it seems like WAA has so many more resources - six whole attorneys just for Philadelphia, plus several legal advocates, and some paralegals, and the law stuff is ALL they do, there's a whole other branch for the other stuff. Last year the thought of having just a part-time attorney to do all the legal stuff seemed like the biggest and best dream ever. But that, of course, was rural New Hampshire. In reality they are just as overextended in Philadelpia. It just seems so much more impressive.
Learning the different nuances in the law between New Hampshire and Pennsylvania is interesting. Some of the differences I like, and others, well, they make New Hampshire look progressive.
And even though the commute makes my day a little longer than I'd like, I get such a kick out of taking the train, and working in Philadelphia. Even in this ridiculous heat I think Philadelphia is just lovely in the summer. We ate our lunches in Rittenhouse today and it was just all so very pleasing. And after all my worrying I find I don't even mind getting a little sweaty. When it's 90 degrees out, EVERYONE is sweaty.
In other news, I liked the season premiere of Six Feet Under, but I've decided to stop watching the opening death scenes. The one in the season finale last fall traumatized me for about a week, and the one last night kept popping intrusively into my mind all day. Ugh.