Not Being an Internship Supervisor

Today's post will probably be a short one since I am in the throes of an allergy attack, trying to get on allergy medications, and debating whether I should call in sick this morning or not. I don't think I will - I can be miserable at work as well as here at home, but I have to figure out what to do with five groups of students while I am not feeling well. There is no provision about having to stay at home when you have a runny nose and a killer sinus headache like there is when you are running a temperature, so I will be heading out into the world to sneeze and wheeze and hack and moan.

Anyway, this is my second post on Mondays about no longer having an internship program. I got a request from a student on Friday about applying. It was bittersweet to have to tell the student that I have closed down. I have a feeling that more of these conversations will happen now that the AMTA symposium has finished and it is internship hunting season for seniors. I just could no longer deal with the concerns that I have with our internship formats, with students, with the lack of follow-through and responsibility on the parts of us all, and with the uncertainties that have arisen over the past several years in my program.

So, I sent a letter to my midwestern region representative and then tried to identify the current executive director of AMTA. Guess what? There isn't one which means that I am out of compliance with the 2023 revision of the National Roster Internship Guidelines that states that you have to send a letter to the regional representative and the Executive Director of AMTA. I tried to find an email address to send my letter to the President of the Board of Directors, but there is no way to find that address either. So, I sent it to the liaison for the Association Internship Approval Committee and then to the general email address for AMTA (also, not on the website), so I hope that I will be considered to be in compliance.

Oh, well.

I am going to move from my little office space where I could sit and watch interns lead groups to the big storage room where there is five times the space and I no longer have to watch others. I can move the drum set and the large instruments to the little room where they can be accessed as needed but still be out of the way for those who cannot handle the stimulation and possibilities. I can have an entire large closet to myself for my task box creation projects (finished over 15 projects on Friday and delivered them to some of our brand-new teachers), and space for two desks! I am bubbling over with plans, but now have to start the procedure of moving things across the room and organizing based on my new plans! This is definitely a benefit to being internless for the future!!

On that positive note, I am going to head upstairs, get dressed, and head out to work. I have some new clothing waiting in my mailbox, so I will have some spiffy new duds for later this week. Let's hope that my energy will be appropriate for my clients today since I do not feel well at all!

Happy Monday.