Diverse Talents, Dependable Teams

During my time at the Arras Foundation over the summer of 2023, I was in a local intern cohort with four other summer interns and a youth development leader. We were all college students majoring in different fields. We had an accounting major (me), a graphic design and sports media and communications double major, a visual communications major, a mechanical engineering major, a public health/health science major, and a communications major. Ethnically, we were diverse as well. We had representation from three different communities: the Caucasian, Black, and Asian communities. We all had different upbringings, talents, and skills to help our projects have the best possible outcome. Two of the five interns were locals from Lancaster, SC, one was from Buford, SC, one was from Nebraska, and I was from Ohio. Each of us offered a different perspective even based on our hometowns, family backgrounds, cultural backgrounds, and career goals. Despite our differences, we were able to work efficiently and effectively on projects.

Throughout the ten-week experience, we mainly focused on a community engagement outreach project to engage in a conversation with local communities in or near Lancaster County. We took previous research from Catawba Connect’s 2021 survey which evaluated Lancaster’s success in 11 different community indicators including transportation, religion, and access to healthcare. It was important to have a diverse set of interns to accomplish projects and tasks because it allowed us to think more creatively and outside the box when planning the in-person events. Upbringing alone, we could appeal to different demographics of interest. The two Lancaster local interns can connect with participants who lived in Lancaster for a long time. They understand what it was like growing up in the community. The Buford local intern can understand a different side of Arras's footprint. With Buford being a smaller mostly Caucasian community, the daily occurrences are unlike other communities. Finally, with outsiders like the intern from Nebraska and me being from Ohio, we can share our thoughts and relate to people who recently moved to the area. 

With our different experiences, we understood how to connect to our audience respectfully and appropriately to engage in meaningful conversation regarding Lancaster County’s future. For the community conversations, we wanted to appeal to a younger demographic, ages 16-25. Every member brainstormed together to find methods to attract this age group or people of any age. From our different brainstorming styles, were able to create a thorough plan that appealed to all audiences for our community engagement events. 

In my business writing class, we were assigned a group project, and my professor introduced the terms “dialogical” and “hierarchical” collaboration. This is the method of how a group functions. In hierarchical collaboration, there is a set leader that oversees and delegates tasks. In dialogical collaboration, all group members are considered equal during decision-making. In my group's Progress Report, the different terms for collaboration helped me realize my faults when it comes to group work. In group assignments, my group usually uses hierarchical collaboration since I would most likely take over the project forcing the direction to go my way and my way only. There would be little to no room to debate on issues or minimal effort to collaborate and build ideas from each other. A selfish reason why I took control was because I thought I could do it better or I was more knowledgeable than my group mates. I am appreciative of that lesson because even though group work seems simple, working together expanded my way of thinking to be less controlling. 

When you have a group, especially a diverse group, it is ideal to use a dialogical method of collaboration. While using the dialogical method of collaboration, a group can communicate and explore ideas more effectively. In my business writing final project, we had to revise the first 25 pages of an established document from a local organization called Lancaster Promise Neighborhood using business writing techniques. We also had to create an executive summary and design a presentation. Looking at the presentation, I can tell that the majority of the work came from me and it looks alright, but it could have been more if I was more open to my groupmates' input and ideas. 

But, the community engagement project with Arras was a completely different experience. The six of us had a month to plan, execute, document, and analyze our results. Using the concepts from my business writing course, I took a step back and relied on the other intern’s expertise on how to approach the project. We created three different categories: Survey strategy; Advertising strategy; and Logistics strategy. Each category encompassed a different sector in the project. The project truly felt like we all put an equal amount of work in through dialogical collaboration. We had a survey and hosted in-person events to get people’s input on how they feel about the community. We received a decent turnout for each event. We had three in-person sessions, one in Lancaster Library, one during a Rotary luncheon meeting, and the last one in the Lancaster Bowling Alley. All sorts of people visited. 

We had kids, young adults, adults, and seniors visit telling us what they liked, what we lacked, and what we can improve in the community. It’s important to have diversity when asking people what they feel. One group of people may think everything is perfect, but another may say otherwise. It’s interesting to talk to people who are not around your age, as well. Older people can give wisdom and advice about how to prepare for the future and enjoy your life now while kids can remind you of the joys and wonders of life that you may have forgotten. Expanding your view, seeking out different people, talking to them, and carrying a conversation, is an underrated blessing we take for granted. The six of us managed to make a difference, and we could not have accomplished a successful event without the input of any one person out of the group. I am proud of my identity, what sets me apart, and the skills I bring to the table, but I also recognize the strengths of other people and can take a step back to listen and trust other people’s input when it comes to collaboration.

Artifacts

Within the Classroom Example: 

• SPCH 140 - Progress Report

• SPCH 140 - Lancaster Promise Neighborhood Presentation

Beyond the Classroom Example: 

• Arras Foundation - 2023 Community Engagement Experience