PCJ499 internship reflections: Integrating refugees with Jumpstart

To ensure the WTC program was functioning as efficiently and effectively as possible, my work focused largely on following up on WTC clients, both mentors and mentees. This involved personally contacting over 100 clients every month to check in and make sure the mentees and mentors were satisfied with the program, seeing if they were facing any challenges, and ensuring we could answer any questions or concerns they had. Mentees were overwhelmingly grateful for the WTC program and not only found professional support, but also made a lifelong friend from their mentors. Moreover, mentors also expressed that they learned a lot about themselves and felt like they became stronger leaders in the process.

There were many challenges I learned about when following up with mentees. Occasionally, some mentees would have to drop out of the program because they were confronting intense circumstances around their immigration status, some even facing deportation. There were also cases where some mentees grew increasingly frustrated because, despite doing professional development work with their mentor, they were not seeing job prospects due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, some aspects of the role were emotionally heavy at times, but it was also enriching and opened my eyes to the realities Canadian refugees are facing, especially during the pandemic. Luckily, I collaborated with many Jumpstart team members to ensure we were coming up with practical solutions for any of the clients who had expressed concerns or challenges.

Towards the end of the internship, my role pivoted to conducting interviews with past WTC clients to gather their feedback and learn about their experience in the program as a whole. This involved asking a series of pre-planned questions that were determined by the Monitoring and Evaluation team. My findings will be used to create a learnings report that will be sent to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizens Canada. After taking feedback from WTC clients, I used this information to inform my final project for the organization: I chose to develop a detailed mentorship guidebook for mentors that contains an overview of the mentor commitment and contact information, mentorship best practices (for those without prior mentorship experience), conversation starters and topics, and resources that have already been developed by Jumpstart.

Overall, I immensely enjoyed my internship experience at Jumpstart, and it was definitely a highlight of my final year as an undergrad. As someone who enjoys relationship building, I had a great time talking with clients, especially mentees, and learning more about their experiences as refugees. Frankly, the challenges refugees face in Canada is not something I thought about often, so my internship experience forced me to reflect on my own privilege while also becoming more of an outspoken advocate on these issues. I also really enjoyed the people I worked with – including my supervisor and fellow PCJ intern, Isabelle!

Through my internship, I began to understand that I love helping people, which offers me a clearer picture of what I want to do after graduation. As we keep seeing conflicts erupt within and between states, it is reassuring that the work of organizations such as Jumpstart contribute to a more peaceful and inclusive society. Although helping one refugee find a mentor might seem like a minor contribution in the grand scheme of things, my internship at Jumpstart taught me that I am capable of contributing to society by making even one individual’s life better.