Armeen Sayani

April 24, 2016

EXPL 390
Final Reflection
One of my classes had just finished, and I was drinking water at
the water fountain in the basement of Dumbach Hall. When I looked
up, a flyer caught my eye. The flyer was advertising Loyolas Social
Justice Internship program. I skimmed the details on the flyer and my
attention was immediately captivated. The end of my freshman year of
college was quickly approaching, and the opportunities for the future
were endless. I knew that I wanted to commit to and experience
something bigger during my second year at Loyola, and an internship
was the perfect way to do it. Never having an internship before, I knew
that it would provide valuable experiences and help me grow in many
ways. Additionally, social justice was something that I really wanted to
learn more about. I had never heard of the term social justice before
attending Loyola. During my freshman year, those two words came up
in every class and in every conversation. I knew that social justice was
an important idea and a core part of Loyolas mission, and I really
wanted to develop a deeper understanding of it. I quickly took a
picture of the flyer, submitted my application later that week, and, to
my pleasant surprise, ended up being selected. (Thanks, Andrew!) At
the time, I had no clue how big of an impact this experience would
have on my life.

When my sophomore year began, I couldnt wait to start the SJI

program. I was so excited to meet the other interns. The first day that
we all met was the same day that we left for a retreat. The retreat was
one of my favorite parts of the year. In less than two days, I learned
about thought-provoking topics like voluntourism, internalized
oppression, justice, privilege, and allyship through articles and
profound discussions. The discussions made me think about how to be
a true ally, such as by viewing justice as something that everyone
needs because we are all victims in different ways, working with
instead of for or over the target group, not separating myself from the
target group, and using my unearned privilege against itself. The
discussions made me think about the different privileged identities that
I hold, such as being able-bodied, cisgender, heterosexual, middle
class, and a college student. The discussions made me realize that,
through my actions, I have the potential and the ability to make a
change in society. Some of these actions include engaging in dialogue,
being educated about and participating in politics, being
environmentally friendly, listening to peoples stories, looking at the
world and the way that people live with a critical lens, fighting against
what is wrong in society, and suffering with other people. Another
discussion that I still remember is the one that helped me distinguish
what social justice is and what it isnt. I learned that social justice
means advocating for people who dont have the resources they need,

identifying injustices in society and understanding why they exist,

educating the ignorant and the privileged, and empowering
marginalized and oppressed populations. Social justice isnt about
dehumanizing others, offering ignorant charity, or not giving people
the resources that they really need. This particular discussion helped
me develop a clear understanding of social justice, and it set the tone
for the rest of my year as an SJI.

My favorite part of the discussions, whether they were about how

we treat someone in need on the street (from Okay by Lowell Jaeger)
or about what it means to be an ally for social justice verses an ally for
self-interest, was listening to the other interns share their thoughts and
insights. I felt this way throughout the entire year. I always felt like I
was surrounded by individuals who were much more experienced and
intelligent than I was. Listening to the other interns share their
knowledge and beliefs about topics like privilege or allyship always
inspired me to think more critically and exposed me to different
perspectives and ways of thinking. I also really enjoyed building
friendships with the other interns. I appreciated how all of us came
from different backgrounds, had different experiences in life, and had
our own unique social justice passions, such as Cristinas passion for
undocumented immigrants, Jacobs passion for the feminist movement,
Sams passion for human rights, or Danis passion for refugees.

Listening to the other interns talk about their passions helped me learn
about marginalized populations and social justice issues that I had
never thought about before.
Growing with all of the interns throughout the year was another
one of my favorite parts of the SJI program. I loved reflecting on my
own internship experience and listening to everyone elses reflections
every time we met. We all went through ups and downs in our
internships, but we were there for each other through it all. Every time
we met, I felt like I had a support system, a group of people who
actively listened to me talk about my experiences at Misericordia,
celebrated with me during my successes, and offered guidance and
support during the challenging times. I also loved hearing about the
amazing work that the other interns were doing at their sites, like how
Dani was helping refugees find jobs and how Cristina was serving as a
translator for Spanish-speaking immigrants. Through the other interns
reflections, I learned so much about the unique populations that they
were working with and how they were helping to bring justice for those
populations. Seeing everyones dedication to social justice always
inspired me and made me want to work even harder to serve the
residents at Misericordia to the best of my ability.
Aside from the discussions and reflections that we all had
together, I also learned a lot from the assignments that we completed.
For the very first project during first semester, I was able to research

and educate myself about the school-to-prison pipeline. Although I

already knew the basics about this social justice issue, this project
gave me the opportunity to really understand the causes of the issue
(i.e. failing public schools, test-based accountability, police force within
schools, and zero-tolerance policies) and possible solutions. It was
especially fascinating to hear Maggies perspective of the school-toprison pipeline since she is a criminal justice major. As future teachers,
Cynthia and I looked at the issue from more of an educational lens,
while Maggie was able to offer a more political and criminal justicefocused perspective. Overall, this project allowed me to learn more
about a social justice issue that I knew the surface-level details about
and learn about other social justice issues that the rest of the interns
presented on, such as homelessness and the refugee crisis.
During the spring semester, two of my favorite assignments were
the leadership profile and the asset map. For the leadership profile, I
interviewed Amanda, a staff member at PEP who I really looked up to. I
especially admired Amanda because she was a special education
teacher for seven years. Seeing Amandas passion for special
education, her consistently positive attitude, and her wealth of
knowledge about working with individuals with disabilities helped me
rekindle my own passion for special education and diminished some of
the fears I had about my future profession. Interviewing Amanda
allowed me to learn about her journey to becoming the inspiring leader

that she is today. This assignment gave me a chance to reflect on

Amandas leadership qualities, such as consistently praising and
thanking others for their hard work and always using effective and
respectful communication with the residents and the staff. These are
two of Amandas many leadership qualities that I hope to develop
further throughout my own journey as a leader.
The leadership profile assignment helped me realize that
leadership and social justice are very closely related. In order to be a
social justice advocate and truly stand in solidarity with oppressed
groups, it is essential to be a leader who holds strong to her values,
builds powerful relationships with others, and fights alongside the
oppressed groups. As Social Justice Interns, all of us practiced some
form of leadership at our internship sites. We stood in solidarity with
the population that our individual organizations supported, did
whatever work our internship sites needed us to do, and contributed to
bringing social justice for the specific population that we were working
with. For instance, spending time with the residents at PEP and
creating various projects for their productivity and success, such as a
chore board or visual recipes, was my act of leadership in bringing
social justice for this marginalized population. This idea of true leaders
being leaders for justice is present in an article that we read: The
Justice Circle by Dan Hartnett. According to this article, true leaders are
those who work toward eliminating the suffering of people in society.

The first step in being someone who is committed to justice is being in

contact with the people who are suffering from injustice. Directly
working with the residents at Misericordia allowed me to do just that.
In addition to the leadership profile assignment, I also learned a
lot from the asset map assignment. Before the EXPL 390 course, I
learned about asset maps in my very first education class at Loyola. I
created an asset map for educational resources for students and
parents in the Rogers Park neighborhood. This time, I wanted to
challenge myself and choose a topic that I was not too familiar with.
So, I chose to create an asset map for women in Rogers Park and
Edgewater. Because of this assignment, I realized that there are many
different groups of women who need social justice and empowerment,
such as women who do not receive enough opportunities or recognition
in the world of theatre, women who are diagnosed with AIDS, and
women who are experiencing domestic violence. I was amazed at the
amount of resources are available in Rogers Park that support so many
groups of women.
The other interns asset maps helped me see that there can be
so many resources in a single neighborhood that can help different
populations of people and bring the community together, whether
those resources are restaurants in the neighborhood (from Jacobs
presentation) or empty plots of land that can be utilized for different
purposes (from Cristinas presentation). Through the asset map

assignment, I learned the importance of viewing every community with

an asset-based lens, even neighborhoods that are really struggling and
have a poor reputation, such as Englewood. An effective and just way
to work towards social justice in a community is to help the community
use its own assets to support itself. Not only is it important to value the
assets of a community, but also the deficits. Finding the value in
deficits can help turn them into assets that the community can use.
This is an idea that I had never considered before. In the end, the asset
map assignment helped me understand the beneficial relationship
between community development and asset-based thinking.
Along with the course assignments, I also enjoyed the texts that
we read. To begin with, The Successful Internship by H. Frederick
Sweitzer and Mary A. King was a book that I could relate to all
throughout my internship at Misericordia. I especially identified with
chapter 3, which discusses the developmental stages of an internship:
anticipation, disillusionment, confrontation, competence, and
culmination. While reading about these five stages, I found myself
agreeing with the text and thinking about how I was going through
most of the exact same stages at Misericordia. Before starting the
internship, I definitely experienced stage 1: anticipation. I was so
excited for this new journey, but I was also nervous because I had
never interned anywhere before, and I didnt know if I would be good
enough for the position. In the beginning months of my internship, I

went through the second phase: disillusionment. I felt like I was not
being given the support or guidance that I needed at PEP. All of the
staff members were always busy with the residents, so I often felt like
a burden when asking them questions or asking them for help. When I
tried to talk with the residents, the conversations were very short, and
I was having a hard time making connections with them. I felt like an
inconvenience to everyone, and I was having a difficult time finding my
place at PEP.
Eventually, as I learned how things worked around PEP and
adjusted to the environment, I entered stage 4: competence. I felt
more confident with the work that I was doing and began making my
own decisions. I figured out the answers to my own questions. I was
able to take charge and independently complete projects because I
finally knew where to find materials like velcro and how to use the
laminating machine. I began to see the importance of my work, such
as when a reward board that I made helped a resident self-regulate his
behaviors. After observing the staff for several months, I knew how to
work with each resident and how to respond to their behaviors. The
residents had begun to call me by name, the conversations that I had
with them got longer and more meaningful, and I felt like they were my
friends. My relationships with the staff members also became more
positive. I understood that they had a lot of responsibilities at PEP and
couldnt always answer my questions, and they began to see how

dedicated I was to PEP and how I wanted to help in any way that I
could.
Near the end of my internship, in the culmination phase, I
experienced a variety of emotions. On my last day at PEP, the
residents and staff made me a farewell card, threw me a surprise ice
cream party, and gave me Misericordia souvenirs. I felt overwhelmed
with all of the love that they gave me. As each of the residents left PEP
that day, I embraced them and promised them that Id come see them
again. While I felt extremely grateful for my experience at Misericordia
and the beautiful bonds that I had built with the residents and staff
over the year, saying goodbye to all of them was a very sad
experience. Being an SJI was such a significant part of my sophomore
year, and I could not believe how fast it flew by.
While reading The Successful Internship helped me realize that
the wide range of feelings that I had during my internship were normal,
the articles that we read in class challenged me to use higher-level
thinking in order to understand complex ideas. A New Professional: The
Aims of Education Revisited by Parker J. Palmer made me realize that
there is no point in going to college unless I use my knowledge to be
an advocate for social justice in my career, particularly in the field of
education. When I am a special education teacher, it is essential for me
to hold true to my values and change the unjust aspects of the
institution that I work for. If I dont speak up when the administration of

my school makes unethical decisions that negatively impact my

students, such as policies related to testing, then there is no point to
having a college education. When I feel burnt out, I have to surround
myself with a community of people who will fight for social justice for
marginalized students with me. The article Love, Forgiveness, and
Trust: Critical Values of the Modern Leader by Cam Caldwell and Rolf D.
Dixon taught me to always be a leader who loves and empathizes with
others, forgives people for their mistakes, and trusts others abilities. A
huge part of leadership is the relationships that we build with other
people. This idea is also present in another article that we read, The
Leadership Challenge by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner. In addition to
the importance of leaders building relationships, this article also taught
me that, in order to be an exemplary leader, I need to model the
attitude and actions that I expect from others, have a vision that others
also share and are inspired by, be innovative and change institutions
for the better, give others the opportunity to participate and be leaders
themselves, and continuously motivate, encourage, and praise the
people around me. These are all traits that I aim to have in future
leadership positions.
Not only did being a Social Justice Intern contribute to my
intellectual development through articles, assignments, and
discussions, but I also made tremendous progress in my professional
development. As a future special education teacher, interning at

Misericordia was the ideal experience for me. I learned how to work
with individuals with disabilities who also have significant behavioral
challenges, which is a skill that will definitely help me in my future
classroom. I learned how to implement different behavior management
strategies, such as using a timer to limit the time that a resident has
on the computer or using a reward board to help a resident regulate his
own behaviors and work towards a goal. Although these are all
strategies that I have learned about in my education classes at Loyola,
it was a very authentic experience to see them enacted with real
individuals.
Moreover, I learned to never take anything personally, especially
when working with people with special needs. When a resident ripped
down a bulletin board that I put a lot of time and energy into making
twice, I was a little upset at first, but I quickly realized that I cant let
things like that bother me. I will see so many challenging behaviors
with my future students, but I have to be patient, stay calm, and focus
on helping them overcome those behavioral challenges. Furthermore,
wearing professional clothes every day, communicating and interacting
respectfully with my bosses and co-workers, and working for many
hours in one setting at Misericordia gave me a glimpse of what it will
be like when I am a teacher. In all of these ways, my internship at
Misericordia has tremendously helped me prepare for my future career.

Although my time as a Social Justice Intern has come to an end,

my goal moving forward is to always be a social justice advocate. Not
only do I aim to be an advocate for individuals with disabilities, but for
all marginalized groups in society. I aim to listen to everyones stories,
so I can learn and understand how social injustices are impacting their
lives. I aim to be an ally for all oppressed groups in society, working
with them and seeking to destroy, not perpetuate, the system that
oppresses them in the first place. I aim to be more aware of my
privileged identities and how they impact my daily life. I aim to always
think critically about the institutions in society and how they impact
different groups of people. I aim to be an active agent in my
community, fighting against what is wrong and trying to implement
change. These are all very ambitious goals, but the Social Justice
Internship program has given me the knowledge and skills that I need
to achieve them. Looking back on this past year, I am immensely
grateful for meeting such extraordinary individuals and learning from
all of them, including the Misericordia residents and staff, the social
justice interns, and Andrew. Most of all, I am thankful to the person
who posted that flyer above that water fountain. If I hadnt seen that
flyer, I would have missed out on the experience of a lifetime.