Prior to beginning my internship, I set goals for myself in hopes of meeting them by the end of the experience. The first goal set was improving communication skills by meeting with my coworkers and expanding my network. I believe this objective was fulfilled as I attended daily morning meetings with my coworkers, asked questions, and conversed with residents and families. I additionally utilized LinkedIn to stay connected with my coworkers and anyone else they thought would be beneficial in adding to my network. The next goal set was enhancing my leadership skills. I feel that sharing my ideas during meetings, leading activities, and oftentimes being a placeholder for the Activities Director assisted me in being the confident leader I have come to be now. An additional goal I set for myself was improving my organizational and time management skills. During my internship I there were many times where I was expected to handle leading activities, assist residents, and meet timed deadlines. I feel as if multitasking experiences have helped me improve my organizational skills and prepared me for many times during my professional journey where I'll need to utilize multitasking. Interning at Hoosier Village has provided me with the opportunity to better my professional self in many ways, and I feel more than prepared going into the healthcare management world after my experience. 

Being a Life Enrichment Intern has brought me many new experiences that I feel have fully prepared me to be a qualified leader in my professional journey. One skill that I have practiced daily is handling difficult conversations. Whether it has been with residents and their families, other coworkers, or even battling internal conflicts, I know my ability to calmly and professionally approach these types of conversations and come to positive agreements will be highly beneficial to becoming a healthcare leader. I have also had the chance to develop my communication skills while working closely with the directors in a patient facing role. Working especially with adults with differing cognitive and physical abilities has given me the chance to strengthen being patient and empathetic, as well as improving my ability to read body language, non-verbal cues, and active listening. These skills, in addition to my now general knowledge of medical and skilled nursing facility terms, team working and problem solving, and working with patients have made me feel well prepared for situations in my future healthcare career. Although I have many many personal improvement, I know there is always room for improvement. I would like to continue working on my multitasking skills especially in times or chaos or pressure where there are time constraints. During stressful periods of work, I always had the assistance of my mentor, which was greatly appreciated, but to be an independent leader I must continue on handling many tasks at once on my own. I aim to immerse myself into more situations that might be uncomfortable or stressful but are certain to provide practice. With my acquired knowledge over the course of my semester internship, I have been able to assist the Activities Director and my additional coworkers in bringing positivity, creativity, and a willing attitude to the residents of Hoosier Village.

After completing my internship it was apparent that many of the classes I have taken throughout my Health Services Management degree, have attributed to a substantial amount of my knowledge now. Many topics discussed during my courses have now become real life experiences which I have managed while working as a Life Enrichment Intern. Some specific topics including health care marketing, department collaboration, risk management with residents and staff, finances and budgeting amongst departments, and even quality improvement within something like QAPI. Each of my courses throughout my degree have been extremely beneficial to my career although, specifically the information I have retained from the course; Chronic and Long Term Care Administration, has assisted me immensely during my internship. Although Indiana University Indianapolis has prepared me well, there is always the chance that situations will manifest differently in the real world as to how it is presented in the classroom. One prevalent instance of this is in the conversation of ethics in health care. Though we are taught how to handle difficult conversations and decisions in ethics courses, up to the moment of my internship I had not handled such a thing in person, especially in healthcare. It transpired to be much more difficult when there are real lives to make decisions about. I can see it is true that hands on learning has a much different effect than classroom discussions. I know that difficult conversations, especially involving ethics, will be hard to handle in the beginning of my career. It is still new to me, but with continued practice combined with what I have learned in healthcare ethics courses, I will be capable of professionally handling them as a confident leader.