The Crossroad building in OTR stands at the corner of East Liberty and Vine, its tall, blue frame hard to miss. As I walk to the front door, I wave at all the folks who congregate outside the parking lot; they smile at me and offer greetings in response. I hurry up the stairs and clip my name tag, complete with an utterly stunning photo of myself, in between the buttons of my navy Crossroad polo. With my team’s notebook in hand, I charge into the office, ready to begin another successful shift.
While scheduling referral appointments for the patients at our office, I have realized the beauty of my role as a Volunteer Intern. In reality, few patients know about the Volunteer Internship Program in its entirety. Thus, when you call a patient and help him or her to schedule an appointment, you do not do it to maintain a certain status, nor do you do it to receive praise and credit. Working with a patient as a VIP gives you the honor of having but a small role in one person’s healthcare journey. To know that you have made it easier for a stranger to get to his or her appointment, whether that was by scheduling the appointment or transportation, is a reward within itself.
Many of the VIPs, myself included, plan to continue on to professions within the health field, including medicine, physical therapy, public health etc. Working as a Volunteer Intern at Crossroad Health Center allows us students to be reminded of what is at the heart of such occupations: the persistent and compassionate pursuit of a healthy world.
-- Grace Thomas
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