Name: Mike Alksnis

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Maryland Disability Law Center | Title of Your Position: Nursing Facilities Project Intern

Major(s)/Minor(s): Social Work

Expected Graduation Year: December 2014

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service-learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

At MDLC, I have enjoyed working with clients and their families to reduce cases of unnecessary institutionalization in nursing facilities, and to ensure the safety, health, independence, and full community integration of clients seeking to make transitions into their own homes. It has been a pleasure to work with the Sunshine Folk, a group of advocates and former nursing facility residents, in pursuit of the same goal. I have also closely followed the development and implementation of Maryland’s Community First Choice (CFC) program, which strives to make these transitions possible for all eligible Maryland residents. I have had the privilege of helping to draft correspondence to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene explaining MDLC’s viewpoint on numerous CFC matters, and have participated in a similar project in cooperation with a State Senator. I have also worked closely with self-advocating CFC participants to help maximize the impact of their voice on the development of the program’s regulations. The staff at MDLC have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome and to create a quality educational experience for me throughout my internship. I could not have asked for a better place to learn as an aspiring social worker!

Describe the process of obtaining your internship, research, or co-op opportunity.

I was connected to my internship at MDLC by UMBC's undergraduate social work program for my field placement, which began in September 2013. Due to MDLC's satisfaction with my performance on the job throughout the 2013-2014 academic year, I was offered a paid 10-week internship over the following summer. I gladly accepted the offer and continued my work in the nursing facilities project through mid-July.

Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?

Faculty Connections, UMBC BSW Program

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

The most enjoyable part of my experience at MDLC was the privilege of being allowed to work on projects which interested me. I expressed an interest in advocacy, community organizing, policy, and social justice during my interview in the summer of 2013. MDLC responded by graciously constructing an internship experience that was catered to fostering professional growth in these areas. As a result, I have become more aware of my potential to succeed in specific roles as a future social worker.

What have you gained from your experience that you could not have gained from another opportunity?

If it were not for MDLC, I would not have become so attuned to the ways in which people with disabilities continue to be oppressed by social and political forces which diminish their dignity, independence, community integration, right to self-determination, and even their health and safety. Due to this internship experience, I recognize there is a far-reaching need for the advancement of the civil rights and human rights of people with disabilities in Maryland and across the US and beyond.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

I would offer to another student the same advice that was given to me by faculty in UMBC's undergraduate social work program -- if there is a particular type of person that you are disinclined to want to work with, work with them. In other words, get an internship working with a population that you are not interested in working with. There is a very high probability that your perceptions about the group will be challenged and forever changed. There is even a good chance you will discover that you actually enjoy working with that population. Until we have exposed ourselves to the experience, we are relying on preconceptions and biases, which tend to be false. We cannot know how we will function in a particular type of career setting until we give it a try, and there is no better time to conduct such an experiment with yourself than during an internship as a college student, before you have decided on a career path.

Congratulations on graduating! #UMBCgrad