I work for the Greater Ridgewood Youth Program in Ridgewood, Queens. The neighborhood consists of mostly Hispanic or white people. The population I work with are young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 who are currently disconnected from employment or school. Working with people in that age range is a bit interesting because my age falls right in the middle, so I definitely need to draw boundaries at my job. This program helps them learn work skills, professionalism, and how to keep a job long term.

This program interested me because I once was in a lot of the interns’ shoes. I ended up dropping out of high school and got a GED and got back in my feet. I want to be a role model for people in my age range because we are the future. My job consists of doing paperwork, filing, and also entering information on an online system from our funders, the New York City Department of Youth and Development. The program is a 12-week internship where the interns are at our agency 5 days a week for 4 weeks. During that time, they participate in workshops to learn new job skills, how to write a resume, cover letter, thank you letter, as well as things like anger management, healthy living, and how to budget money.

Also during that time, they are connected to a worksite that is as close as possible to their interest where they will be doing their internship from week 5 to 12. At the end of the internship, a ceremony is held to celebrate them finishing the program. However, they are still connected through something called a follow-up period for nine months, where they still keep in touch with their specified professional advisor until they find a job or go back to school. Even after the program, we have Alumni events where graduates come together and reconnect with us.

Before the cohort begins, we are in the recruitment phase which is when my boss and I stay at the office and handle people coming in to apply for the program, the rest of the team goes out to recruit in the neighborhood. My job is to guide the applicants to the application room and give them an application and self-assessment. Then, they meet with my boss for an interview. After the interview, if they seem like a good fit for the program, they are directed back into the application room to take a T.A.B.E test which tests for the adult basic education level of at least a 6th grader. If they pass the test, they are then connected to a professional advisor who first reads their self-assessment to get to know them and then does an intake assessment with then as well as an outcome goal chart.

The rest of my time during the cohort is spent collecting timesheets from 30 interns every week and calculating their hours in order to do payroll. Doing payroll is a very demanding task because you have to make sure everyone gets paid the correct amount of money that their timesheet reflects each week and you have to do it by a certain time, however, I like doing it. I also spend the rest of the cohort making folders for each intern to put all of their paperwork from the time they first came to our office to the time they graduate for DYCD to do an audit every few months.

On my first day of work, my boundaries were tested because one of the male interns tried to follow me for lunch and flirt with me. I expected this to happen because we are so close in age. However, I politely but firmly told him what my position is at my job and we have to keep boundaries. I was able to let him know from the beginning to not cross that line but in a way where he was still able to interact with me on a professional level throughout the cohort.

Another experience I had was when a participant tried to blame another coworker and I for her pay being delayed. She took her time sheet home, which is against the rules, and I was unable to verify her hours for that particular week. My saving grace was that my boss and I do payroll very closely and I am very open with him about what I do with paperwork and when I am missing things that I need. Also, she sent a text message to another staff member stating that she had the time sheet and then tried to lie to my boss. I took the situation with a grain of salt because my boss already knew the facts of the matter but also the fact that this participant likes to make up stories was already known by all staff and it was case noted as well.