Week 8 at CrossRoads (blog 9)

I think one of the pieces of leadership I have learned from working here at CrossRoads is a leader in the type of community created at this office, is able to be a friend to all in the office but also is able to keep others on task and assure goals are met when things need to be done. I think this is not just seen in the executive director at CrossRoads but in all the people that work here. They are able to do this with their clients as well as with their colleagues. The employees here are able to make the people around them feel comfortable and be their friend while getting their work done.
Something I’ve learned about myself as a professional is that I need to work on planning and expecting for things to have to be postponed or taken away. For example, learning to accept that since I am only here for the summer I am not going to get to present my curriculum to students. This is frustrating, but it is not surprising since during the summer, unless at a camp, students don’t particularly like to go to a class. I had to accept that it is not always easy in the summer to gather people for events. Rather than being upset I had to learn how to adapt and change my work so that it fit better with the time I was working. I also think this will help me in the future in my professional career to work to be able to know how to adapt based on changes that may occur unexpectedly.
My highlight this past week was getting to spend some time with the children who came in either for forensic interviews or waiting for their parents while they were in the back talking with advocates and therapists. This was my highlight because getting to interact with these children is heartwarming because the children come here, and they feel so comfortable in CrossRoads in the lobby or wherever they are playing. Sometimes at the end when it is time for them to leave, they don’t want to and getting to see this, let me know that the children feel safe and comfortable in this environment that CrossRoads has created and that this means CrossRoads is doing an amazing job at advocating for children. I am glad to have a firsthand look at seeing the payoff of CrossRoads amazing work!