Kristina's Blog

My experience at SYCEP this year is definitely one of the best things that ever happened to me. Before joining this program, I did not have a clear career path set in my mind. This was a problem because I do not have much time left until I graduate from high school and enter college. I was not confident with working because I always felt inexperienced and lack of skills. I was never aware of my strengths but I was sure about my weaknesses. However, after going through the six weeks of work training, I learned so much from everyone here within the program and I felt myself change as a person. I won’t forget the memories I made here and this experience would not be possible if I didn’t have the supportive people who positively influenced me on this journey.

The first group of people I would say who influenced my experience would be my co-workers, advocates, and supervisors at the Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia. This is because they were so open minded and supportive on my first job. Everybody at the office were really patient and friendly. The atmosphere in this environment made me feel so comfortable and motivated to work. On my first day, I made several mistakes on my assignments. I highlighted some names of victims who were not eligible for the services we provide. My supervisor reassured me and after a while, I feel myself improve. My supervisor and the advocates gave me advice, saying a first job is always difficult in the beginning but I will get the hang of it. This is true. On days when we have preliminary hearings or special events, we would get together and chat about our lives or buy coffee together. We got to share great stories, both funny and interesting which made my work days fun.

Second, My co-worker, Windie, who is also part of the SYCEP team is really amazing. We look out for eachother at work all the time. Whenever I come across a problem while inputting data on the computer, she was always next to me offering to help. We made many memories together, from walking to Dunkin Donuts to order drinks on our breaks, to singing while nobody was in the room, and to planning for a surprise party for our co-workers. Windie and I been through a lot of strange situations together too, like that time when a stranger tried talking to us but we helped each other get out safely. She was also there for me when I needed someone to go shopping with and we walked in the rain together to get food for the party. Windie is not only a coworker to me, but also a sister and friend.

Third, the SYCEP staff at BPSOS were definitely a positive influence for my experience this summer. They really encouraged other youths and I to work hard on our resumes and cover letters which are really important for future job employment. My mentor named Jonathan, held professional development seminars that were really educational and of course professional. His workshops and advice on being professional inspired me to be a better worker and person in the future. I am grateful to learn more about the working field because of him and I will use the tips I learned here.

Last but not least, I would like to say that my older sister played an important role in my SYCEP experience. Although she is a staff member for this program, she has been very supportive to me as well. She looks out for me in many ways despite how strict she can be because I am her younger sister. However, even though we are family, she treats me as any other youth at the program so I could learn more about the work field. This is great because I am able to learn how to be responsible for my own self. My sister is also, really inspiring. Even though she knows the effects of certain things, she wants me to experience them first by making me decide on my own. She is like my own mentor, at home and work, which can be really funny and scary at times.

To sum it up, my SYCEP experience was really amazing. My co-workers, advocates, and supervisors, at my work site as well as the staff members of the SYCEP team made my first job experience wonderful. I am able to grow and build self-esteem. I am also very happy to share this memory with them, and I will miss it a lot once graduation comes. But this experience will never be forgotten because it was one of the best experience I ever had. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog posts! 

-Kristina Var 

As summer is rolling by and the Summer Youth Career Exploration Program is coming to an end, I realize how wonderful my experience at the Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia is. Every week, my supervisor encourages me to attend meetings, preliminary hearings, or other events that were relevant to our worksite. On certain days, I work at the office, performing various tasks such as inputting data into the computer, merging and mailing letters, and organizing important documents. While I am responsible for these tasks and for going to these events, I learned that I can use my worksite experience to pursue my future academic, profession and personal endeavors in several ways.

First, my experience at this worksite made law and criminal justice seem interesting. I never imagine being in this field because I thought studying healthcare and science was more interesting. But after attending court sessions and seeing how cases are settled, I realized that the healthcare field was not for me and my knowledge for law and criminal justice had increased. In addition, my days at the preliminary hearings taught me that there are many victims with language barriers that need help with understanding their situation at court. There are times when interpreters fail to appear, therefore, I would like to study other languages while learning law and criminal justice, as well as using what I know from my experience to help those whenever I can.

Second, my experience at court and at the office inspires me to become an undercover police officer. As I mentioned before, I like to help those whenever I can and that is one thing a police officer is meant to do. Being an intern at the VWSSP makes me feel as if I am undercover police officer because I am able to hear victims speak out about their cases and identify defendants while keeping quiet due to confidentiality. Also, there are many times when I walk into the Criminal Justice Center and people assumed that I am a regular young girl because they did not know that I am working with this organization.

Finally, I can use my experience interning here to help me pursue my own personal goals because this worksite has great connections with other organizations. For example, one of my personal goals is to become a better artist. Since my supervisor found out that I like to indulge myself in creative projects, he sent out a flier to my coworker and I about an art class opportunity during the fall time  at the Fleisher Art Memorial Center. This was really amazing because he was able to connect with other places within the city and refer this to me.

Before working at the Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia, I had never knew what I wanted to be. I was told many times to be a doctor or pharmacist but the idea did not interest me so much because I knew science was not the subject I was best at. But now that I had gained more experience within the worksite where I work at, my dream job is to be an undercover police officer.

The idea of being an undercover police officer sounds very exciting yet dangerous. Although it is a very risky job, I find it interesting to investigate while looking naturally as possible. I have always wanted to blend in a crowd but still be able to stand out at times. The idea of being an undercover police officer makes me feel as if I am having the best of both worlds, since I get to experience both things at the same time, one looking and acting like a normal person, and the other having the mind of a police officer.

Some of my favorite movies like The Spy Next Door, 21 Jump street and So Undercover inspires me to be a police officer because all of the movies have characters that goes undercover to save the world or solve crimes. Although they do not have superpowers like the superheroes seen on television, they are able to help others around them in so many ways, similar to how I want to help others around me. The characters I seen were all given an important mission to complete. They were trained for various things such as fighting, escaping, running, and most importantly, being able to think critically.

After taking the signature themes test on StrengthsQuest.com, I found out that my top five strengths were: Harmony, Developer, Restorative, Communication and Achiever.Harmony, as described on Strengthsquest, means that, I look for areas where there is a common ground between people with different views and perspectives. Developer means that I am able to help others grow and find success. Restorative means finding solutions to problems. Communication means speaking and expressing ideas to the public. And being an Achiever is one who likes to achieve or accomplish something. Based on these themes, I have noticed that I can continue to develop them wherever I am at, including within and outside of my worksite.  

Working at the Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia feels like working in an area where family and friends are around. When I first came to this worksite and met with my co-workers at orientation, I saw the differences between us. We came from different backgrounds, including  race, age, country, and religion. However, that did not stop us from getting along. One way of getting along with them despite the differences was getting to know the language they spoke. I was able to find the common ground by staying open minded and determined. As I continue to speak it to my advocate in spanish, I was able to develop not only the language itself, but the harmony and communication within the environment.

I have to admit, I was surprised getting my second result for Strengthsquest as a Developer. This is because I felt that I was still young and inexperienced to help others grow because others help me. After reading more about being a developer, I came to think that I am able to develop this by inspiring the younger generation to grow or actually, anyone who has been labeled as wrong could be right. Being a developer also means seeing potential and success in others. According to my worksite at the VWSSP, I learned that not all criminals were criminals, but some were actually a victim. I believe that if can continue to find justice or provide support for any of the victims, that would help me become a developer.

Last but not least, I can develop the theme of Restorative and Achiever by being aware of problems within our city. Part of working at the VWWSP means learning about law and cases that deals with robbery, burglary, assaults and more. If I am able to use law and solve some crimes to provide support and justice for victims, I am able to achieve and resolve the problems that happens within and outside the work site.

Part of working at a job even though one is still new to their worksite is keeping their self accountable. Being accountable can reveal many things about a person’s character, which is often good. It may show how one can be reliable after admitting their mistakes or even impressing those around them for being brave and taking the blame. Although I am continuing to adapt to my worksite, I manage to stay on task and stay accountable in several ways.

First, I think it is very important for all workers to be responsible no matter what. Being responsible can earn one many things, such as trust and praise. I remember while working at my worksite, one of the tasks I had to do was highlighting the names of people who were eligible for the services we provide. As my supervisor checked our work, I had made a mistake by highlighting a few who were not actually eligible for the service. I apologized to him and he said it was not a problem since these tasks were still new to us, but I knew I had to improve even though I was still adjusting to the worksite. Although I am still learning about my job, I wanted my supervisor to trust me with handling assignments and praise me, but before getting that trust, I have to prove that I am accountable.

Second, my fear for consequences motivate me to be responsible. I know my actions affect others who are around me, therefore, I try to put my best efforts in completing my tasks and doing things correctly. A perfect example was when I had to come back to work from the Professional Development Seminar. It was held at Facts Charter School in Chinatown which was farther away from the office of my worksite. When the Professional Development Seminar ended, my partner and I had to call our supervisor and let him know that we are coming in early. After letting him know, my partner and I went to the bus stop to take the 23 down to 12th street. However, the bus did not came and we waited for a long time. We were worried about being late because we knew it would be unprofessional for us to show up at the wrong time. After having this fear, we decided to walk as far as we can even though the weather was really hot and humid. Eventually the bus came and we got there on time.

My first day of work at The Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia was amazing. I was very curious about the tasks I had to do and how the day would turn out. I came to the office about fifteen minutes earlier and saw my colleague named Windie, waiting for us to begin work. Our supervisor named Phu Tien, decided to show us a preview of the tasks we would be doing. He brought out a stack of papers and a list of instructions for our assignment which was organizing and sorting documents, data entry, printing, and mailing. After viewing them, we picked up the recent paperwork from one of the police departments that needs to be worked on. Along the way back, Phu describes the other two departments that our organization works with and some history about the Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia. When we arrived back at the office, we had to organize the information we received, identify clients who were eligible for the services we provide, and input the data. After that, we took a lunch break and chat with our other co-workers. Later, Phu showed us how to use Microsoft Word to create letters and print out envelopes. When all the printing were done, we put the papers into the envelope, stamped them, and they were ready to be mailed out. Our work ended after that, on time.

As the days progressed, I did face some challenges and obstacles beginning work as a new employee, such as: receiving a lot of information and trying to memorize what I was being told. This was challenging because the information were still new to me and I was not familiar with it. I ended up asking a lot of questions and I felt worried about how my supervisor would feel but I realize how it is better to know than make mistakes. Another challenge I faced was trying to be fast. Although it was my first day, I wanted to do my tasks at a quicker pace. It was a bit difficult because I was still learning the process, therefore, I took a longer time to finish and I had to double check my work often. I also wanted to be fast to get my work done so we can move on to the next task, but before I move on, I had to make sure I did things correctly.

After a couple of days working at the Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia, I found the experience to be very fun and exciting. I got to learn more about office work and I became more aware about the crimes within our city. I remember the fear I felt before walking into the worksite and the thoughts I had about performing tasks. But now, things have changed and after doing those tasks several times, I found the experience to be very rewarding because it was educational and I was able to conquer my fears for working after that. I consider the knowledge i gained from working there a reward because I knew this would help me be open minded about the future and the world we live in today.