Mostly, interacting with people I thought I would never interact with.
- Ex-convicts
- Domestic violence perpetrators
- Parole officers
- Drunkards and druggies
- Rape and abuse survivors
- Suicidal vets
- People who hear voices
- Clients with frontal lobe injury which leads them to say/do inappropriate things
- Trauma victims (not "OMG, I saw Saw 2 and I was traumatized" and more "I saw my buddy's arm tearing off from his shoulder, and I couldn't do anything")
I have really been smacked in the face with two facts:
1. I have been extremely sheltered, which is both a blessing and a curse
2. Human suffering is universal and much darker, sorrowful, and tangible than I cared to acknowledge previously
3. Being a female in an extremely male-dominated work culture is a double-edged sword
It's been a wild ride, and while I don't enjoy every minute of it, I wouldn't trade it for anything.
As a Christian, once my eyes have been opened to the extent of good and evil, joy and suffering in this world, there's no way I can go back and live in my little cocoon where I think going to a soup kitchen once every other month is an acceptable offering to God. I'm not slamming those who have dedicated themselves to this since I think what God requires of each person is different. I'm just saying that isn't for me.
Most important, I have learned to value the gift of my salvation, and understand much more fully what my life might have been like without it. I am in awe that God has chosen me and it is a privilege to be in a profession where I can serve Him in some of the darkest places: in people's hearts.
That's what I have been up to, since my internship started.
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