BLAKE DERBY

LORAS COLLEGE

SPRING 2018

RESOURCES UNITE

PSYCHOLOGY INTERN
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JOB DESCRIPTION

A specific job description for this position is hard to present, because the tasks of Resources Unite are
very hard to outline. Instead, I was expected to know how to run the place if I had to, and multiple
assignments were given to me, some not having to do with my field. My main duties included meeting
with clients to help provided them with resources, guiding volunteers to opportunities, revising the
resource guide, creating more accessible transportation information, and developing ads for non-profit
organizations in the Telegraph Herald.
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COVER LETTER

No cover letter was provided, as most correspondence was over email messaging and face to face
communication.
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INITIAL LEARNING PLAN
Identify two job/career objectives or skills this internship will help the student develop.

1. Goal/Objective: Task Management

Means: Considering I have a lot more responsibility this semester, and bigger
projects, I want to utilize my time well. I will have lots of tasks to complete, so I believe
this skill will be very important. The means of going about this will be to organize my
tasks in a manner of importance and how much time they will take. I believe my
organization skills will grow as such, and I will be able to accomplish more in the porcess

Assessment: My assessment will be getting weekly updates from Josh on my

performance on things he has delegated to me.

2. Goal/Objective: Community Outreach

Means: I will start to get more involved with our non-profit organizations outside of
the time I am at RU. I will seek to actually help volunteer more at these places, and some
organizations have requested RU to be more of a presence at their functions which we are
more than happy to do. I will take advantage of these opportunities.

Assessment: I will hope to reflect about my experiences in my journaling, and also

will seek feedback from Josh about how well I have been engaging in Community
events while representing RU.

 Supervisor goals (What does the supervisor want the intern to learn/accomplish?)

Accomplish and work on being a well-rounded individual. Learn about the different non-profit
organizations and work with them effectively. Update the Resource Guide for the semester, and make it
more accessible to people. Create a transportation guide for community use. To add, be passionate about
what I am doing, in this experience and generally in life.

 Supervisor expectations (What does the supervisor expect from the student?)

Being confident and able to conduct the intake process, and connect with people emotionally. Work on
effectively recruiting volunteers to help with different events in the community. Being constantly diligent
in all work, effectively networking and helping keep a positive image for RU. To always know why you are
doing something, and always try to feel out what you do in life.

 How can the supervisor & intern collaborate to help obtain these objectives?

Weekly meetings discussing the goals that are laid out here, and how well they are being obtained.
Feedback from the supervisor as work and behavior are observed as the supervisor sees fit. The
supervisor will give the intern situations into which they can grow and develop their skills, and be of a
great service to the organization.
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MONTHLY REPORTS (repeat)
Monthly Reports

Month 1 Total Hours _____30 hours____________

What were your primary tasks this month? What connection does this experience have to your personal or
professional goals? How is this semester’s experience different than your last internship at this site? What has
been the response, reaction, reception been like from employees who were at the Site when you started & how
has it changed since your first semester there?
Response:

My primary tasks this month have been to start contacting non-profits to update our resource guide, and to work
on a community transportation guide. For my goals, it gives me a chance to interact with other organizations
and improve my networking, while giving me the opportunity to solve the transportation problem. This
semester has brought on a lot more responsibility for me. I have already been given more to do, and have led
more important things for the organization. Our whole team is back except for one, so it has been really nice
continuing with all of the same people. Josh and Angie obviously trust us a lot more now at this point, and so
our relationship with them has developed a lot. This semester will really be a chance for us to leave a lasting
impact on RU, and hopefully it brings a lot of good things for the future.

Month 2 Total Hours ______40 hours___________

Summarize your tasks and what you are learning in this experience. Discuss the “culture” of the work
environment. Do co-workers interact on a personal level? Do these connections seem beneficial to the
organization? What does this experience point out to you about your own attitudes, biases, or preferences?
Response: We are trying to update the whole Resource Guide, and I have been continuing to try and do the
Telegraph Herald ads. I am always learning that you really have to push people to contact you back, sometimes
people do not respond right away, and so constant effort and persistence is sometimes necessary. I have also
learned that things really do need an update every so often. Simply updating this resource guide, I have found
out that so many organizations have changed line of power, moved location, or didn’t even provide services that
we previously said they did. A whole bunch of different things change in organizations, and it is important to
stay up to date with that. As for the culture of our work environment, we are very close to each other. We have
all built good relationships where we can joke around with each other, talk about our lives, and socialize outside
of work. We all really care about each other, and it makes our organization so much better. We understand each
other on a personal level, and so we work better together on an organizational level. I know now that I prefer a
work environment where I am actually close with the people I work with, and one where I can be myself around
people. Instead, I can let my personality show. I really love this about our group, and I know it contributes to
why we are successful.
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Month 3 Total Hours ____48 hours_____________
Briefly explain your primary tasks this month. What role does this organization play in the community? Does
this organization contribute to the “common good”&/or display an understanding of social responsibility – in
what way(s)? Do you see yourself someday becoming involved in your community in a service capacity?
Response: This month has consisted of trying to finish up the Resource Guide, and as well trying to get
donations to our Outstanding Volunteer Awards. At this event, all of the items that have been donated will be
auctioned off to try and raise money to help Resources Unite continue its mission. This organization plays a
very important role in the community, because if someone is ever struggling with a situation, the first place
others recommend them to is us. We have the responsibility for doing everything we can to provide the person
with the resources to get into a better situation. Without RU, a lot of people would have nowhere else to turn,
and could not have the success that some of our clients have had. Our organization does a very good job of
understanding social responsibility because it is literally our job. We can provide people with all the tools
necessary, and we are more than willing to do it. At the end of the day though, someone has to ask first, and
they have to meet us halfway. There is only so much we can do on our own, so really we need people to help us
help them. I do see myself becoming very involved in the community through service, even more so because of
this job. Even when I leave this internship (not quite sure when that will be yet) I still want to do my part in
helping it. We thrive off of our volunteers, and so I will continue to help in any way that I can be of service to
others.

Month 4 Total Hours _____35____________

Describe any new tasks you tackled this month. When reflecting on your experience, what were your biggest
challenges and what were your greatest victories? How have you grown – professionally AND personally since
your first experience at this site and through this semester?
Response: Honestly this month, the hardest task was figuring out how I could still make an impact in my final
days. It was really hard knowing that I was leaving soon. Still, I tried to build many relationships with clients,
and have good connections with them. In that regard, I believe that was my greatest strength throughout this
month, and the course of the whole internship. I also feel like I have been very creative in my ways to tackle
problems. I always am brainstorming new ideas. One challenge was definitely putting together transition
materials. That is something I will continue to work on in my final days. Professionally I am understanding
better how to communicate with organizations, and how they work. I have gained a lot of organizational skills,
networking, and a lot of work experience. Personally, I have gained more confidence in myself. This internship
experience has helped me to understand what my greatest strengths are, and how I can utilize those to help
people. It has also helped me to recognize my weaknesses, and has also helped me to work on those.
Organization and time management were the two that really stuck out. I still have a lot to learn in those regards,
but this internship helped me grow in those areas a lot.
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FINAL ESSAY

My internship experience with Resources Unite is something that I will treasure for a very
long time. I had the pleasure of meeting with clients and helping them achieve their goals, by
getting into a better situation. I left my mark by helping establish a new resource guide, and
better connections for transportation. I also spread information and awareness about non-profit
organizations through my weekly Telegraph Herald Ads. This whole time, sometimes without
even realizing it, I was living out the duties of the Loras Mission. “Loras, as a Catholic liberal
arts college, creates a community of active learners, reflective thinkers, ethical decision-makers
and responsible contributors in diverse professional, social and religious roles.” I am a part of
this community, and through my time at Resources Unite, utilized all of the gifts that Loras
strives to give us.

In my time with Resources Unite, being an active learner has been crucial to the job. I am
constantly adapting to what is happening. An internship literally is the embodiment of being an
active learner. You are learning while on the job. I learned about different non-profit
organizations, and how they function. I learned what being a non-profit means, and how we
stand in regards to government assistance, and how the chain of command is carried out. I had
to be adaptable, especially with clients. Everything you think you know goes out the window
when the person in front of you has tried everything that you are going to tell them to do. I had
to adjust my plan, and help in case by case situations. I was also able to learn how to
communicate properly with other organizations, and even develop ad writing for the Telegraph
Herald. Though not everything applied to what I want to go into, I learned from some very
valuable experiences in this position.

In an internship such as Resources Unite, you always have to be thinking about the
knowledge you have learned. This is where more active learning becomes important, how you
process that information. I may hear from a client that there is nothing else they know to do,
they can’t get help with utilities, housing, or whatever else it might be. I have to think
reflectively, understand the situation, and use the information I have to give them potential
options. I also use this when I have a problem to solve. Transportation has been a big issue for
Resources Unite, so we needed to develop a plan of how to make the situation better. I used all of
the info I had, and created a more detailed and useful section in our resource guide. I also
communicated with people at transportation services in Dubuque. Now we have a trusted
partnership with both the Jule and the RTA, and have the proper resource to help people with
transportation. Another important aspect of reflective thinking is understanding how your
outside experiences relate to your field. I was able to use psychology classes to understand
personalities of people. I even knew how to communicate with people who had mental illnesses
better, such as those dealing with PTSD. I also used my previous experience as a counselor for a
summer camp to have meaningful conversations with people. I was not afraid to get into deeper
conversations with people, and those interdisciplinary experiences guided me. My ability to think
reflectively paid dividends in my time at RU.
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I was an ethical decision-maker every day at Resources Unite. This was from things as
simple as how much food I could give out to someone, to protecting certain information people
shared with me, because of how personal it was. Because Resources Unite is a non-profit
organization, we are limited in what we have available to give to people. Sometimes, people
would try to take advantage by coming in multiple times in a row to ask for the same thing. It is
a hard situation to deal with, but sometimes we have to tell people no. Sometimes we say no,
because we don’t provide that service. We also can’t provide more for one person than another. A
non-profit can’t choose favorites. These were some of the hardest parts about my job, but I
learned a lot because of these decisions. Of course, it wasn’t all bad either. Some situations, we
had to reason about the best way to handle a problem. We usually ask that everyone who needs
help comes into the office. One lady had no choice, she was disabled and it took her everything
just to make herself a sandwich in the morning. In this situation, we acted ethically by changing
are procedure to cater to her. We absolutely had to, and she was very grateful for it. There have
of course been other instances like this. One very personal to me was when a man came in
needing insulin. We cannot give out money at RU, but I went above and beyond by calling his
medical insurance company, and straightening things out to see if he qualified for assistance.
The man was very grateful, and in this case, I had to choose to do more. His life depended on
insulin, so I had to help him more. Other organizations had failed to recognize that need, but I
was not about to let RU be another one on that list. We are called by our faith to be ethical
decision-makers, and RU has helped me to learn how to reach that calling better.

In the past year, I have grown to become part of the Resources Unite family. I have been
able to add to the contributions made by many people in my journey. Responsibly contributing to
an organization such as RU has an impact for a long time. I contributed to educating clients
about how to handle certain situation, and how to use us as a resource. I contributed to the
positive reputation of RU, by making sure I helped people in every way I could, and had a smile
on my face doing it. The relationships I built helped make a stronger community. I contributed to
the education of the community by reaching out to different non-profits, learning about them,
and spotlighting them in ads for the Telegraph Herald. I contributed to the future of RU by
helping the revision and collection of information for the second edition of the resource guide. I
contributed by giving RU more information on how we can help people find transportation
assistance. I thought of new insights, collaborated with people, developed creative ideas, and
expanded upon the knowledge we already had. My contributions will add to the collection of RU
as a whole, and in this way I know that I have been a responsible contributor to the Dubuque
community.

During my time at Resources Unite, I have been able to implement the values of the
Loras College Mission in my everyday work. I have strived to meet my goals, and be a positive
force in this experience. I have learned so much, and will never take for granted opportunities
such as this in my life. I am going to miss this wonderful place, but I am also glad that I have left
my mark in its future. I can forever say I am part of the RU family, and that I have used this
gifts Loras College has given me to better the Greater Dubuque Community.
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Blake A. Derby

Campus Home Electronic

1450 Alta Vista St. 2282 Pasadena Drive Blake.Derby@loras.edu
LC Box #469 Unit #12 2015blakederby@gmail.com
Dubuque, IA 52001 Dubuque, IA 52001
(563) 451-2776 (cell)

EDUCATION Loras College, Dubuque, IA

Sophomore working towards a BA in Music and Psychology (May 2019)
 Overall GPA: 3.9/4.0 scale
 Dean’s List (five semesters)
 Honors Program
 Dance Marathon 2015-17 (Family Relations Committee)
o Co-Director in 2017-2018
o Chair in 2018-2019
 Praise and Worship Adoration Choir 2016/2017
 Chamber Singers (2017-2018)
 Psi Chi Inductee in 2017 (Psychology Honors Society)
 Orientation Leader 2017-2018
 Delta Epsilon Sigma Inductee in 2017 (National Scholastic Honors Society)

LEADERSHIP Loras College, Dubuque, IA

Retreat Leader, Academic 2015-18
 Antioch Retreat Director in 2018
 Serving high school confirmation candidates on Discovery Retreat

University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, Iowa City, IA

Public Speaker, 2011- 2015
 Spoke about medical story at multiple events in support of the University of Iowa
Children’s Hospital
 Increased awareness of Pectus Excavatum
 Iowa Hawkeye Kid Captain 2014

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Conference, Grinnell, IA

Conferee, 2014; Counselor, 2015/2016
 Oversaw group of 12-14 high school students
 Gave testimony to personal experience with leadership

Wahlert Catholic High School, Dubuque, IA

Group Leader and “Struggles” Presenter for Kairos Catholic Retreat 2015
 Served as a retreat leader to a group of 35 high school students and facilitated
discussion about faith and vocation

RELATED WORK Resources Unite

Internship, 2017-2018
 Formatted ads for the Telegraph Herald
 Helped creation of second community resource guide
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 Communicated with non-profits about events
 Provided resource assistance for people in need

PERSONAL Acoustic and electric guitar (seven years), Singer/songwriter (choir since the 5th grade; wrote
music for the past three years)