My main job for the summer of 2015 was working at Extend-A-Family. Extend-A-Family Waterloo Region (EAFWR) was founded in 1980 by parents of children with developmental disabilities as a way to build friendship and nurture community in Waterloo Region. In the beginning, the “Extend-A-Family” program matched supported families with other volunteer families in Waterloo Region. Over the years, EAFWR has added additional services to continue to meet the needs of individuals and families in our community.

I am very grateful to had been hired as the Summer Program On-Site Director! The On-Site Director helps to lead the implementation of a summer program for individuals age 13 and up, with a physical or developmental disability. Some of my responsibilities included: hiring, training, supervision, community outreach, administration, booking, evaluation, etc. In my role as the On-Site Director, I was a positive role model and exemplified the values that EAFWR represents in the community, while overseeing the development and implementation of an inclusive, person-centered summer program.

AKA, it’ was an AWESOME summer, and I hope to return next year 🙂

1 of my 3 jobs this summer was working for JUMP at Laurier! JUMP (Junior University Multidisciplinary Program) is a three-day residential experience at Wilfrid Laurier University for grade 5, 6, 7, and 8 students during the months of May and June. JUMP is hands-on, educational, informative, and fun!

I had the role of the Psychology Course Coordinator! The Course Coordinator’s role is to develop course content, teach the courses, as well as perform administrative tasks. I’ve had a blast putting together different content to create an interesting, age-appropriate Psychology course for the incoming students. There’s everything from Dr. Phil, classical conditioning, ambiguous figures/optical illusions, mental health, and Positive Psychology!

Here’s a video introducing this awesome program:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=79&v=X5cQfFtTjcw

After 4 long, hard years, I have completed my undergraduate degree! Being a Laurier Golden Hawk was definitely one of the best times of my life. I learned so much more than Psychology; I learned about myself and the person that I wanted to become.

This is just the beginning of my path to becoming a teacher… 2 more years of schooling and I’ll be on the job hunt!