First Week of November

This week I think I am running into a very typical frustration of an internship. I am lucky, in that I have been given a really cool project, the problem however is that because I am only here for a couple of more weeks, being able to finish this project is highly improbably. Basically what I am doing is continuing something that AFB began a couple of years ago where complaints were filed with the FCC on behalf of consumers experiencing accessibility problems. Currently the only accessible phone off the shelf is the iphone 3gS. Every other phone requires software that costs several hundred dollars to have things like voice over to make a phone accessible for blind people . The constraints of my work is similar to what anyone would experience in a people oriented job. I need to get responses from the people who made complaints in order to write to the FCC to continue work on their behalf which has a whole list of processes that take a long time. Also, I am doing the project primarily wit the Vice President of AFB, who is very busy so in terms of getting necessary direction, there are time parameters on that as well. I completely understand these constraints, but it is frustrating particularly because as an intern, my time with AFB is finite and the end of which is fast approaching which means that with all of these time constraints, as hard as I am trying, the project simply may not be finished. Further, with a project like this, there is never really an ending, simply an unending myriad of possibilities so I am trying to bring it to a point where it could be considered at least in part completed to then be taken on wen someone else at AFB has the time to do so.

I really am enjoying the work I am doing and I realize that it is very reminiscent of work that I did while interning with the constituent office of Senator Kennedy, which I absolutely loved. It is a very people oriented project where I can on behalf of the organization make a difference in these people's lives. In so doing, I am not only f assistance to them, but am learning a great deal about the issues and best approach to solving them. I really would like to continue working in this capacity and am grateful that I can have these kinds of experiences to help me understand what it is I would like to pursue in the future in a more permanent nature.