Finally blogging

Hey everyone, Lilly here. Sorry I've been so horrible about blogging. You don't know how many times I've thought about blogging/started to blog only to be distracted by something else. I apologize for my ADD-ness.

Somehow, in the blink of an eye, SAS is almost over. I started the program with barely any expectations, nervously anticipating the prospect of living with 13 strangers for two months. What if I didn't get along with anyone? What if I did get along with people, but it was just that--getting along without something deeper? But SAS truly surpassed any expectations I could have had; I've met a group of truly wonderful individuals who have come together to form a community. Now I look back and wonder why I worried in the first place. This far into the program, I have had an amazing time with some amazing people.

As for my internship, for you tier 2 folks (the tier 1 people have heard this spiel a million times), I've been working with the Atlanta Asylum Network. We're an organization that sets up physical and psychological evaluations for asylees fleeing torture and persecution in their home countires. The process consists of receiving an intake form from an asylee, conducting an intake interview with him/her, and then setting up the evaluation. This is all done so that the asylee will have a medical affidavit to back up his/her case when he/she goes to court. The intake interview experience is definitely the most intense part of the job. In the intake form that I initially get, I usually get a personal statement from the client as well, a personal statement that describes the torture or persecution that he/she has faced. However, in the intake interview, I must verbally ask the client some very personal and oftentimes uncomfortable questions, such as the duration of the torture, or how specifically the torture was performed.

Aside from the intake interviews, I do a lot of office work most of the time. I'd never realized before how much everything depends on sending out emails and coordinating logistics. For example, I unsuccessfully tried to arrange for an evaluator to meet a client at least three times. On the fourth try, I found a time and place that worked for both of them only to have the evaluator cancel last minute and say she couldn't work with us this summer because she didn't have time. I was frustrated, but the best thing that I could do then was to try to find another evaluator as quickly as possible. I'm pretty happy right now, though, because as I'm sitting outside my office typing this blog entry, a psychological evaluation is taking place inside. Another step towards helping an asylee? Check.

Happy summer everyone =)

- Lilly Zhong