My Internship with the Refugee Education Center

by Jackie McLaughlin

My internship at the Refugee Education Center was the biggest blessing of the summer. Before this summer began, I spent months searching and interviewing for internships that would interest me and fulfill my student credit. During my search, I was reminded of the Glenn Van Noord Short-Term Urban Missions Program at Thornapple Covenant Church and discovered that they had the perfect internship for me. While I was jealous of my friends who had internships on Capitol Hill or would spend the summer traveling, God created the most ideal internship situation imaginable and waited for me to go to Him so He could reveal it to me. 

Workdays generally consisted of entering data into an online database or tutoring one of the center’s clients in English. Despite how straightforward and repetitive this sounds, this internship constantly taught me life lessons and blew my expectations out of the water. 

I learned about the immigration system through conversations in the office and database work when families entered the States. I learned more about the refugee population in Grand Rapids, which countries refugees are coming from and why, and some of what their experience is like. I also learned from the center’s program coordinators and managers more about how nonprofit organizations are managed and how my position, even behind-the-scenes database work, makes a difference. The program coordinator explained to me how the data entry I was doing would save the office hundreds of hours of administrative work, hours that freed up program staff to focus more time on direct client services and support. During this internship, it felt rewarding knowing that my work was an important part of the team and contributed to the organization's capacity to serve more students.

Tutoring a teenage refugee who emigrated from Burma surprised me and challenged me in ways I didn’t expect.

It required patience and sometimes resulted in failure. The student had almost no experience with English, making each session a daunting task. On the first day, I showed up with some materials and flashcards, but I had no teaching experience or Google Translate to help me. We stumbled our way through lessons together, and sometimes, both of us were confused by the end.

Unlike data entry, where everything is predictable, there would be days when my student would fly through all the material I brought, and there would be days when I dragged her to the finish line. I can’t imagine how frustrating and discouraging the educational experience must have been for her and other students of refugee backgrounds. I was blessed to learn this student’s story and help her along the way. I was grateful to learn and see more of what many refugees experience when they come to the United States - what they must learn and how they adjust to a whole new language and culture.

I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to work at the Refugee Education Center and for the formative experience that it was. Not only did I gain knowledge and practice working with refugees and in a nonprofit, but I also was able to discern more about what careers God may be leading me to in this field. I’m happy to be leaving with a better understanding of where I’m going and what I want to do after graduating college. 

 Note: The Refugee Education Center is a non-religious 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We welcome and encourage volunteer involvement from people of all walks of life, beliefs, and backgrounds. If you want to volunteer or intern with the Refugee Education Center, you can view our available opportunities here.