When I first began working at ICM, I was not sure what to expect and was admittedly a little nervous. I had visited once for a class, but had never really been around to see the Mission for a “typical” day. It didn’t take long, though, before I was very comfortable with both the residents and the staff.

I think that this is mostly because I felt like I was a member of the “family” at the mission. I still remember the moment when I realized that I was a part of the family. I was shadowing Candace on a supervising shift, and she asked me to go out to the shed to get some paper towels. I was across the house, so she yelled, “Hey, Big Guy!” I laughed and she said, “Hey, you’ve moved past being “The Intern” already!” At that moment, I really began to feel at home and feel like a part of the “family.”

Staff, residents, volunteers, every person at ICM is a part of one big family, and simply being a part of the family and sharing in one another’s joys as well as sorrows has been by far the best part of my internship at ICM. Really, when I came down to work, I didn’t feel like I was going to work but rather I like I was going to my “other” home.