Putting in Work

Today was my first day at my fellowship site. How could I have not mentioned that?

I am placed at the Ministry of Labour, Human Services, and Social Security. It was a short day because many of my future colleagues were in meetings. I was very excited to get to work. I met with many of the individuals I will be working with over the course of the next few months. Everyone was genuinely welcoming and very excited to meet me.

I had the opportunity to discuss the projects I'll be working on. As of now, I'll be consulting on recent policies related to sexual assault; focusing on putting policies into practice. Additionally, I will be preparing trainings and workshops for local college students who are studying social work. How exciting is that?

I was a bit surprised with the appearance of the building. Inside, the floors were made of wood panels. They were painted red, but clearly very faded. The halls were dimly lit. I even caught my finger on a door handle. Thank God for recent tetanus shots. I wasn't sure if I was being a condescending American or the Ministry just needed some repairs. Perhaps the latter?

In social work school we often discussed pre-conceived ideas; "schema". What we expected things to be, appear, and so on. This would be an exercise in what I thought a government building would look like. Clearly, the lesson doesn't stop at graduation.