Effective Communication Makes for a Successful Community

Andrew Ternahan
Communications 495 Internship

FULTON SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS

Salisbury University

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 To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we

perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.

This is a quote said by Anthony Robbins and I believe it carries a lot of truth and power. One of

the most important things in a persons life is the people we do life with, and the people we do

life with is our Community. I was fortunate enough to do my internship with an organization

that thrives within the community, the Richard A. Henson Family YMCA, located in Salisbury,

Maryland. You may think the YMCA is just a gym, but it is much more. The Y is for youth

development, healthy living, and social responsibility, with the ultimate goal of strengthening the

community. In order to work with the community effectively, you have to be open-minded at all

times, have the willingness to do what needs to be done while gaining knowledge through

experience in various situations, using that knowledge to reach out to people you do not

physically come in contact with, and knowing the importance of leadership and having the

aspiration to become one. During my time as an intern, I was able to work and associate myself

with a very diverse demographic that I had never experienced all at one place before while being

exposed to various jobs and tasks when needed on a daily basis. I was also very fortunate to be

able to assist, observe and learn from a very intelligent leader, Deanna Harrell, who was my

supervisor and the Branch Executive Director of the Richard A. Henson Family YMCA.
Something that I really enjoyed while interning at the YMCA was my exposure to the

large variety of people I came in contact with. I was able to really test my interpersonal

communication skills with many different types of people. One of the most important concepts of

effectively communicating using interpersonal and intercultural communication is having an

open-mind. Members of the Y vary from newborn babies placed in child watch while their

parents and guardians would use the facility to senior citizens who come to pursue a healthy

lifestyle. As I spent more and more hours in the facility, I formed relationships with many

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members and became a familiar face on a first name basis. There were a few kids that would

always come into the office to say hello to me and it really brightened my day and theirs. With

the constant hide and seek games and tag being played in the lobby, laughter filled the room and

put a smile on everyones face. Along with variety in age, I was also exposed to many different

cultures. With the knowledge I learned this past fall semester, taking Intercultural

Communication, this internship opportunity could not have come at a better time. Working at the

front desk I had many face-to-face conversations with people of all ethnicities. At times it was

hard to understand everything that was being said to me as well as everything I was saying to the

members, I was forced to use my skills learned which resulted in a mutual understanding.

Something very special about the Y is the atmosphere they provide with a welcoming

environment and service to people from all faith traditions and perspectives as said in their

mission statement. Being a part of an organization with the focus of working side by side with

our neighbors to make sure everyone, regardless of age, income or background, has the

opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive was truly amazing. Coming in contact with such a wide

demographic of people, I really needed to be open-minded and understanding of everyone who I

came across. Taking the principles and focus of the Y Mission, I was able to be an outlet for

members and an easy person to talk to if anyone had any questions or simply just wanted to talk.
Members were not the only people I was working with. Like most jobs, you are

surrounded by a staff. I was fortunate enough to meet several members of the working staff. Just

like the members, the staff was diverse in its own way. One thing I was very proud of was my

ability to bond, cooperate, and work with the members of the staff. During my time I was able to

connect with everyone I worked with and form very strong relationships. The majority of the

time I worked with women who would probably have more in common with my mom, but we

became friends and cared for each other. They were very interested in my life and were very

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supportive. While I was interning I was also playing for the Salisbury Universitys Mens

Lacrosse team and they came to several games, cheering me on. We became like a family and

that is something I was very proud of and thankful for. At the Y they have a program where

special needs students from local high schools come in and help out and do work around the

facility. There was one student with autism who would come in a few times a week that I became

friends with. This was a learning experience for me because I have never really had the chance to

work with and talk to special needs kids, but it was something I was interested in. Every day he

saw me his eyes would light up and you could tell all he wanted to do was have a conversation.

We bonded over sports most of the time as well as school. One of our first conversations was

about our favorite sports teams and ever since that conversation, the sports talk never stopped.

He was also very intrigued that I was a student-athlete, playing lacrosse for Salisbury University.

Once he found that out he was throwing out several statistics about my team that I was not even

aware of. It was just a really good experience being able to associate with him in the sense that it

was something new for the both of us. At one point when he found out it was my last week, he

said he was really going to miss me but would try to come to my games when he could and

continue our friendship. I was most proud of the impact I left with everybody I came in contact

with and most importantly it felt like I had truly made a difference in that community-based

environment working at the front desk, but I was also able to do that in many different areas

while taking on many tasks.

During my interview for this particular internship I remember being told that every day

working in the Y was never going to be the same. Different jobs and tasks would come up

randomly all the time. Sure I had a general idea what I would be doing each week, but there was

always a surprise that became challenging but also fun. I was able to get my feet wet in a little bit

of everything. The Y has many departments and I was exposed to each and every one of them,

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performing different jobs that gave me a lot of experience. It was very important for me to have

the willingness and the enthusiasm while performing any task that came my way and to seize

every opportunity. After the first week went by and I became more familiar with what I was

going to be doing, my primary job during my internship was working with the social media for

the organization. My goal was to make a new Facebook post every day. I made an effort to post

news and information for each department of upcoming events or stories. I had many posts about

membership information, youth development programs, community health and wellness, as well

as specific classes available and aquatics. In this day and age, social media has become more and

more popular with each new generation. It is very crucial to reach out to as many people in the

community as possible and that is what is so great with social media. It is a beneficial way to get

more people involved that are not able to obtain the information physically in front of their face.

Something that I had to adjust to was the difference between posting social media for personal

use and organizational use. Most of my experiences using social media had been for personal use

so I could pretty much do it how I wanted to and it was fine. Taking over an organizations social

media had a lot more to it. There were several specific guidelines that had to be met because of

the brand name YMCA. For example, I was only able to use certain photos obtained in the Ys

brand resource center website and when I chose a photo it had to be cut and edited with a certain

outline. I made a handful of flyers as well and there was a guideline for them too. They had to be

typed in a certain font and follow a very specific color scheme as well. Although it was

sometimes difficult to follow the guidelines and still use my style at the same time, I became

more creative and it helped me overall. Having many positives in my experience doing the social

media, I also had some disappointment.

I was disappointed in myself with my inability to use multiple social media platforms. All

of the social media I posted went through Facebook, which is a very popular platform, but I was

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not able to reach as many people as I could have. That being said, Facebook is well used by the

middle-age population that makes up a large number of the members using the facility. I could

have used other social media outlets such as Twitter and Instagram to reach the younger

population so that the news and information is more accessible to everyone of all ages. If I were

to do something similar to this internship in the future or anything really, I would become more

familiar with all types of social media outlets which would ultimately be more beneficial and

successful. Another disappointment involving my internship experience was balancing my time

between the different departments when I was not working on social media. With the office I

worked in right next to the front desk, I spent a lot of time there. I did not become as familiar

with the other departments as well as I did with the front desk and membership. Although I spent

the majority of my time posting on social media and researching for all of the departments, I

could have spent more time in the wellness center, which is the actual gym, the aquatics area, and

even the child watch. This would have been a good way to learn more about each different area

other than just gaining knowledge of them with what I posted on social media. Next time I would

balance my time better and be more involved with all of the different divisions so I could get the

hands on skills which would result in an overall better experience for the future. Although I was

not as involved with some areas as much, I was involved in the youth development to the extent I

was with social media.

Having experience with youth sports my entire life being a participant, I have also been

able to volunteer and work with kids prior to my internship. Being an athletic coaching minor, I

was asked to step in and help out with the youth development programs right away. This was a

perfect fit for me. I have volunteered many times doing youth lacrosse clinics as well as working

several camps so I was used to working with kids and really enjoyed it. There was a big

difference between programs I had previously worked with compared to the Y. Almost all of the

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lacrosse camps and clinics I was a part of were for competitive teams. Lacrosse is a very

expensive sport as well so most of the kids I coached and worked with came from well-off

families. That is very different from the Y in the sense that the youth programs were not

competitive and the goal was to have every one participate regardless of skill level. During my

time as an intern I had the hands on experience with the youth basketball program through the Y.

I gained the experience working with kids in the local Salisbury area that did not come from

stable homes and financially stable families. Knowing that working with youth sports is

something I see myself doing for my career, I learned a lot about communication as a result of

my internship. Community based youth programs are something way more than just a sport. It is

a time and a place that kids who are less fortunate can go to forget about their problems

regardless of how minor or severe they are. Being very fortunate to have what I have had

growing up, I learned how to communicate on a very high interpersonal level with these kids

who come from rough areas and backgrounds. I was capable of finding a common ground with

the local youth. There was one kid participating in the basketball league who was causing

problems and not cooperating with the other kids. Instead of ignoring the situation and letting it

continue, I just took the kid aside and started talking to him and dribbling the basketball around

with him. You could tell his mood and actions completely changed after just receiving a little

attention. Turns out he was from an unstable home and probably did not receive much attention

at home which causes him to act up in a social environment. Taking action is very important

when working with the community, and is a key role in leadership.

As a communications major, many of the courses I have taken involve being in a group at

some point in the class. Everyone knows that to be a successful group, having a good leader is

necessary to get things done. The same concept goes with working with the community. I was

lucky enough to work side by side with and learn from a very strong leader in Deanna. Having

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the title of Branch Executive Director, she has a very important job in overseeing a large

organization that has many ties with the community. She was very busy at all times running her

branch (Richard A. Henson Family YMCA) as well as working with and having influence in all

of the other YMCA of the Chesapeake. In a way I can relate to her in a way because I am

currently in a leader position as a captain of the Salisbury Lacrosse Team. Just like her I over see

an entire team comprised of 50 members as she oversees the entire branch and the members of

the staff who are employed there. In both of our roles we make sure we put both of our teams

in a good place and lead through hard work desire to be successful in a positive manner. I was

able to gain knowledge and experience as her intern and find a great deal of appreciation and

respect for everything she does for the community through the Y. Something that truly amazes

me is the amount of time and effort put into this career of running a community based

organization like the Y. It was amazing to see how much influence and ties the Y had with the

community as a whole. Not only is it a gym and a social setting for the community to attend.

They have various campaigns outside of the actual facility, ultimately making this Salisbury

community a much better place. Not saying that the Salisbury area is the best or is free of

problems, because there definitely are, but if you think about what type of place it would be like

without the organization it is truly mind-blowing. It is great to see a place so involved with

places such as the local school populations, police agencies, and many more and are able to leave

such an impact on the community through donations and all around support. Never having an

experience quite like this involving myself in the community, it was great to be a part of an

organization that has such a good cause.

After completing my 180 hours interning at the YMCA, I would say I am indifferent in

my career decisions. That being said I am not secured nor wary in deciding my career path. I

really enjoyed my experience and can take a lot from what I have learned into the professional

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world. I feel like I have gained successful knowledge and confidence to run or oversee an

organization such as a lacrosse club which is something I can see myself doing eventually. In

relation to my career decisions, something I believe to be very important in my experience was

how at the end of my internship I was asked to apply, if interested, for a new job opening for the

YMCA of the Chesapeake as the Public Relations Coordinator. With the new position available, I

was told I would be a great fit for the job by members at the Y and higher up in the whole

corporation after some of my work for the organization was posted on social media.

Unfortunately, at this time it was not something I really saw myself doing at this stage in my life.

It was still a very cool experience because technically it was the first type of job offer Ive ever

received for the real world that included an annual salary and benefits. I think this is an important

part of my experience because most internships lasting only a few months do not usually lead to

a job offer of some sort.

Over the course of my internship I was capable of learning, practicing, and executing my

communication skills effectively while having an open mind and perspective on the community,

willing to work and take on any task presented, use different forms of communication with

people I was not face-to-face with, and learned to be a strong leader and the importance of

leadership. I was able to fulfill all of these important concepts and skills in effective

communication by exposing myself to a broad variety of different groups of people of all ages

and ethnicities as well as form strong bonds and connections with those I came in contact with,

making a difference. I also gained the experience of promoting an organization through social

media to get more people involved. I also had the opportunity to learn from a very successful

leader and use my experiences in my own social life. Overall, learning through experience and

real life situations gave me knowledge that I would have never gained with only using textbooks.

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However, the tools and skills I learned in the classroom throughout my career at Salisbury

University went hand in hand with my success as an intern.

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