Internship Chronicles, Chapter 7: Jordan Day

One spring day, a Student Prince decided to go on a summer adventure. “It won’t be long before I have a career,” the Prince said, “so I’d better start preparing now.” So with some ’Berg education under their hat, and some connections in their back pocket, the Student Prince began forging their way through an internship.

We continue our web series, Internship Chronicles.

Chapter 7: "The Value of Peace of Mind"

Jordan Day is a rising senior psychology and criminology double major from Lansing, Michigan. This summer, Jordan is interning with End Violence Encounters (EVE), a nonprofit that provides support to survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, and elder abuse. Jordan is specifically working with EVE’s Personal Protection Order (PPO) Office, which also provides legal advocacy to those survivors. After graduation, Jordan plans to attend a graduate program in Fall of 2023, concentrating in either clinical or counseling psychology. 

How did you find your internship, or how did the internship find you?

I found my internship with EVE after deciding that I wanted to complete my internship over the summer in the Lansing area. I found EVE through a general internet search and was pointed in the direction of EVE’s PPO office after coming in contact with EVE’s director of community outreach. 

What did you expect from your internship initially?

Initially, I was not completely sure what to expect from my internship with EVE’s PPO office. I was unsure if it would be more of a hands-on experience working directly with clients or more of paperwork/computer work, and I was met in a happy medium of both. 

What really happens in your day-to-day work?

As far as day-to-day work at EVE’s PPO office, interns begin their experience by shadowing other legal advocates in the office to better learn how to interact with survivors of trauma and learn the different processes surrounding filing for a PPO (personal protection order). After initial training and once comfortable with the content, myself and other interns assist with safety planning with survivors, answering questions/explaining the PPO process, assisting clients with PPO paperwork, inputting data into the agency’s database regarding client interactions/PPOs as well as other miscellaneous tasks relevant to working with survivors of trauma. 

What is the most valuable thing you’ll bring back to the classroom after this experience?

The most valuable thing(s) that I will bring back to the classroom (and life in general) from my internship with EVE are patience, understanding, and a reminder against assuming what is going on in another person’s life, as we really never know. From this internship, I’ve learned the importance of helping others in need whenever it might be possible, and how much just listening and talking with someone might turn their situation around completely.

If your internship was a book or a chapter in a book, what should it be titled?

If my internship were a chapter of a book, it would be called “The Value of Peace of Mind” or “Protection For Trauma Survivors in the Community.”
 
To learn more about End Violent Encounters, check out their website.
To keep up with Jordan and what she’s doing, visit her LinkedIn.