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Indiana Latino Institute's logo from their website.
Purpose
Purpose
My engage learning experience took place at the Indiana Latino Institute office. I worked as a bookkeeping assistant since my major is accounting. As a bookkeeper, I prepared invoices and created monthly check requests for daily operations. I also assisted with forming month-end and year-end closing financial reports. I chose this internship to get me starting in accounting. It was a plus that I would be helping out the Latino community!
Prior Experience
Prior Experience
I saw connections from my classes like basic accounting and financial accounting to my bookkeeping internship. For example, in basic accounting I learned how to identify receivables, long-term liabilities, and how to create journal entries. Further along my classes, I learned more about situational examples like how to create a journal entry for the month ending on a Wednesday when payday is on Friday. This set me up for the basics of bookkeeping. I help create monthly financial reports and divide them by income, receivables, and expenses for each book. The connection from my classwork set me up for success in my engage learning experience.
Basic accounting concepts from basic accounting classes.
Lists of some students who received the Indiana Latino Institute fall internship scholarship.
Community Connections
Community Connections
At Indiana Latino Institute, they primary serve the Latino community, but also support minority organizations. The Indiana Latino Institute (ILI) organization support the Latino community with workforce development and higher education. My role at the ILI office was to accurately create check requests. These check requests included preparing scholarship check for college students. ILI has internship programs for college students. The ILI team connect these students with an internship like Merchants Bank and earn a scholarship. My job was to prepare the scholarship checks based off of the hours the student worked.
New Skills & Lessons
New Skills & Lessons
I discovered that bookkeeping is more than just numbers. I learned that organizational skills influence all aspects of the business/organization. I gained more professional experience while working at the Indiana Latino Institute office. I learned that of the Indiana population, only 19% is considered Hispanic. I also learned that 1.7 out of 10 Latino adults have obtained an associate degree or higher in Indiana. I learned that the Latino community should support each other in higher education. Supporting the Latino community can look like creating first generation student clubs, hosting events like tutoring, and creating more systems like the Jaguar leadership program which guides and financially supports students.
Graduation cap design from the famous Spanish quote, "Sí se puede" which means it can be done.
The Education Summit is an event hosted by Indiana Latino Institute to educate high schoolers on how to apply, afford, and succeed higher education.
Impact
Impact
This engaged learning experience has impacted my career. I have gained so many connections with people who serve specifically the Latino community. I got the privilege of working with Latinos for Latinos. I experienced different views and success stories from working in the office. I learned from the staff directly that success and education is not linear. The Indiana Latino Institute helps Latinos in higher education and in workforce development. I learned that companies and organizations work directly to support the community financially and in career opportunities. These organizations support Latinos in higher education with internships and scholarships. I created a lasting difference since I processed scholarship checks which help Latino students directly financially.
Career Connections
Career Connections
After this engaged learning experience, I plan to continue to work in accounting. This connects to my career goals because I am an accounting major. I learned from this experience that I do like accounting which includes financial reports, payroll, and bookkeeping. I plan on working at another internship in accounting. I would love to work for smaller local companies in Indy. I want to learn more about how companies report their financials. Company's have their own way of reporting reports with things like LIFO/FIFO method, quarterly reporting, or only yearly reporting.
Connections that I made at my engaged learning experience, can help me find new internships and opportunities.
The engage learning experience helped me gain experience for my education, life, and future jobs.
Summary
Summary
My experience from my engaged learning was fulfilling. I got to work in accounting, help the Latino community, and create connections. My biggest takeaway was that I enjoy working in accounting. I was unsure in the beginning because I enjoy accounting classes, but working in an office is a different story. I am so glad that I gained experience in accounting, which in return prepares me for finding a full time job after graduation.
Artifact
Artifact
The photo above is an artifact from my engaged learning experience. This is what my desk would look like while filing financial reports. As a bookkeeper, it was my job to file documents, reports, and invoices into proper binders.
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