Blog #4- Lunchbreak

Despite the challenges faced prior to my fourth week as an intern at CRLS, there has been a significant amount of improvement in my social and interpersonal skills. Part of the reason has to do with the level of comfort that is transmitted through the athletic department—from my supervisor, coaches, and the school's secretary, as well as student athletes. Last week, for the first time ever, my coworkers and I became very personal in terms of sharing with each other a little about ourselves- our backgrounds, our family history, and pretty much what our goals were in life. We laughed and told a few jokes, and overall just had a great time over our one hour lunch break.I have been often told by peers and college professors that it is not a good idea to talk about your personal life on the job, and that both spheres must remain separate. However, my colleagues are such friendly people and I couldn't help but answer any questions they had about me-- about my relationships with family and friends, what my interests in life were, what my home country is like, why I had chosen to study in the United States, what my plans were after graduation, my likes and dislikes about the U.S, and whether or not I was planning to return home.

I was asked a lot of questions. I was a bit uncomfortable at first but I figured that by having a new person from a totally different place interning at an organization, they were just genuinely interested in getting to know me. And through sharing my life with them and listening to theirs, I found it quite interesting that although we are from two totally different places ( the U.S and the Caribbean), we all share similar values in life- family, education, career, and happiness. In our last internship seminar, we spoke about negative (catabolic) and positive (anabolic) energy in the workplace, and I can safely say that I work in a very positive work environment. Everyone who I work with is very passionate about their job. Working in such a place contributes to how comfortable I am at the moment interning at CRLS.