Celeste Harp made an impact on her Arizona community by facilitating data-based training to address the drug overdose crisis.
How did you get your internship?
I got my internship by reaching out to a former professor to see if she had any internships available. We scheduled a few meetings where they learned my wants and needs in an internship and considered where I best could fit in. It was a long and tedious process having to communicate through email all the time, but it was so worth it in the end. I ended up getting an internship with a grant at the University of Arizona called Overdose Data 2 Action (OD2A).
What did you find most challenging about your internship?
One of the most challenging parts about my internship was feeling like I was unprepared because I had to hit the ground running. The programming required a lot of learning and took time to learn where all the material was and developing an understanding of it to where I could present it to others. From this experience, I became more comfortable asking questions, no matter how silly they may have seemed. That is one of the biggest takeaways in general I took from this internship and the one I’m most grateful for because I know I will feel more confident speaking up in future situations that may be unclear or where I am new to an organization.
What was the most significant contribution you made?
I believe the most significant contribution I made while in my internship was conducting a training session with a doctor and his team in a rural Arizona community. Being able to talk to them and understand more about their situations compared to bigger cities was extremely interesting. Being able to provide education and train communities about overdose recognition where the issue is not really addressed was a huge accomplishment for me. For that same reason, any training sessions we conducted were the biggest wins for me and the team.
Why did you choose this internship?
I chose this internship because of OD2A’s mission to make an impact on Arizona’s rural communities to address the overdose crisis and provide prevention strategies. Bring from Arizona, this is a problem that hits close to home and I want to be a part of the systematic solution to support overdose prevention. In addition, I was able to build every skill that I wanted to gain experience in before advancing in my career after graduation. Facilitating trainings and providing education to my community through this grant allowed me to fulfill my personal value of making an impact and gaining practical experience.
What new knowledge did you learn during this internship? What skills did you build?
I learned a lot about how different communities are affected by opioid use disorders; it broadened my view of just how diverse the communities are in Arizona. Some transferable skills I gained out of this experience are problem solving, working on my own to solve problems, and learning to speak up and ask questions if I need help. I also became more adaptable. There were occasions in training that I had to take on a leadership role when I was not expecting it, which felt out of my comfort zone, but then successfully completing it and knowing that I could adapt to the situation.
Describe a big project that you worked on.
One of the big projects I worked on for this internship was to review and update our overdose training lesson plan in PowerPoint. For this project, I went through each and every slide and documented the learning objectives for trainees and the talking points for the presenter. I also added details like suggested time stamps to each slide to ensure the presentation is consistent for anyone using the slides. It was a really fun project to work on because I want to pursue opportunities in education and it was a nice introduction to the types of work I would have to complete in the future.
What was your favorite part of your internship?
My favorite part of my internship was going to a conference up in Phoenix. We presented our overdose prevention training and it was a huge success. We had so many follow-up questions and engagement from the attendees about the topics we discussed. Being able to see and hear everyone else’s stories made a huge impact on my life and made me feel even more connected to this issue. It was also my first professional conference, so it was also fun getting to dress up more professionally and hand out goodies to other healthcare workers and make new connections.