Denisse López

Nationalities Service Center: Learning Outline

Knowledge:
❖ Organization’s history, mission and purpose
➢ Give myself a 4 for this, I think I was able to get as much understanding of the
organization’s history, mission, and purpose with the time given
❖ Understanding each department’s role of organization
➢ Give myself a 3. I would ask around to different departments if I could shadow
them, but due to the circumstances I was not able to
❖ How to find housing, signing a lease, and purchasing for home
➢ 4, I came in with no prior knowledge but I think I ended up learning so much from
going through this process in Philadelphia.
❖ Figuring out the city’s bus/train transportation system
➢ I would give myself a 4 in this because at first it was really confusing the bus/train
transportation system in Philadelphia, but then after a while of taking it I got
more comfortable with it.
❖ Learning to balance internship and education
➢ I think I did a better job at this when I was in Philadelphia than when I had to
come back home. When I was in Philly, I would give myself a 5 and once coming
home I would give myself a 3 because it became really hard being able to balance
both.
❖ Learning how to plan and execute a ESL lesson
➢ I would give myself a 5 because even though I did not have any prior experience
with this before coming to Philadelphia, I think that once I got to actually do it I
did pretty good and really enjoyed it.
Attitude/Value:
❖ Not afraid to ask questions when uncertain
➢ 5 because I was never afraid to ask questions to my supervisor about how she
wanted me to complete tasks. I wanted to make sure I completed tasks the right
way.
❖ Views on immigrants/refugee system
➢ Give myself a 5 because I was able to learn and take lots of notes on the
immigration system in the U.S.
❖ Learning to listen more than talking
➢ 5 because being with NSC’s clients, I have been able to learn more about the
importance of listening to clients than talking
 ❖ Becoming more patient
➢ I would give myself a 5 because being in Dr. Water’s seminar class this semester
has taught me about becoming more patient even when times can get frustrating.
❖ Recognizing my own privileges
➢ 5 because after interning at NSC, I learned about how much immigrants/refugees
have to go through to have their basic necessities met. It has opened my eyes to
not complaining about the miniscule things that I find to be important.
Skill:
❖ Learning how to make lesson plans and manage ESL classes
➢ 4, I think I did a good job at making lesson plans and teaching them but I wish I
had more experience with them.
❖ Finding/booking field trips for clients
➢ I did not get the time to plan as many field trips as I wanted to, but I think with
the time I was able to I did do a pretty good job and would give myself a 4.
❖ Time management
➢ Learning how to manage my internship with my classes at TPC while still
managing my independent living, and making time for myself was definitely
challenging but I would rate myself a 4.
❖ Practice translating documents/interpreting
➢ I never had the experience of interpreting/translating like I did at NSC, but
overall I think I did a pretty good job but has taught me that I need to touch up on
my Spanish a little bit. I would give myself a 4 in this.