An internship leads to career in helping others
When Emily Bullert started college, she was only interested in finding a career that would allow her to help others. She considered a few different majors and settled upon Recreation, Tourism and Therapeutic Recreation with a focus in Therapeutic Recreation (TR).
“Being able to brighten someone’s day is always the goal,” Emily said.
Close to her graduation, Emily needed an internship to earn her bachelor’s degree. She reached out to The Lutheran Home: Belle Plaine campus. Emily completed an internship in the TR departments at Kingsway Retirement Living, Hope Residence and The Lutheran Home: Belle Plaine.
The TR department uses leisure activities to help residents meet well-being goals. Team members work with residents to enhance motor skills, social and cognitive functioning while building confidence and developing skills. Examples include creative arts such as crafts or music, games including Bingo and exercises like dance or movement.
“I definitely learned a lot through all three communities,” explained Emily. “I learned how to work with different types of people. Each care community provided a different perspective for me.”
This internship was the beginning of Emily’s working relationship with The Lutheran Home: Belle Plaine. Following her internship and college graduation, she took a temporary position working in Long Term Care every other weekend and filling in in the Special Care Residence (SCR) during the week. Later that fall, Emily accepted a full time position as a Therapeutic Recreation Coordinator in SCR.
“I fell in love with this job. Getting connected with those residents and learning about them was my favorite part,” said Emily. “Being able to care for them individually and getting to know their families is an important part of the job.”
While working the full-time job, Emily continued her education and became certified as a Therapeutic Recreation Specialist. With the certification, she could now be an intern supervisor. In January 2019, Emily was promoted to TR Director.
“Starting as an intern and then being in every position in this department helped tremendously in becoming a director,” Emily said. “The internship also helped with getting to know team members and residents throughout the campus and building those relationships.”
The Lutheran Home: Belle Plaine strives to offer career growth and leadership opportunities to all of our team members.
“Emily is a prime example of one of our team members growing and working to advance her career within our care community,” said Jodi Foster, Human Resources and Retention Director at The Lutheran Home: Belle Plaine.
Emily’s career at The Lutheran Home: Belle Plaine was full circle during the summer of 2019. She supervised two interns within the TR department.
“If I didn’t do my internship at the Lutheran Home: Belle Plaine campus, I don’t know where I would be right now,” Emily explained, “Everything kind of fell into place at the right time.”
With a variety of career paths available, we are always looking for caring compassionate people to join our team. Discover our career opportunities at tlha.org.