TIP Tuesday: Kaylin Jones

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hi! My name is Kaylin Jones, I'm 17 years old and I live in South Central Los Angeles. In the fall I will be going into my senior year, which is very exciting. Oh, and my favorite color is purple.

Where do you intern?
I intern at 826LA in Mar Vista. It's a Non-Profit writing and tutoring center, dedicated to helping support students and their writing skills.

​Have you always been interested or had a passion for working with children?
Yes, for as long as I could remember, I have always loved working with young children. It's something that I am good at, but more importantly, it's something that I am happy doing. I never get bored or tired of working with the youth.

What attracted you to this work?
I still ask myself this questions every day. I love people. I love talking. I love interacting, but there is nothing quite like the feeling of inspiring or making an impact upon someone. I think I realized that I could do this when working with youth. You get to see them grow and improve, while also being a huge support to them during their time of growth.

...be proud of yourself because you got into this amazing program, but that means you have to keep working hard.

What do you think is the most valuable thing you've learned so far? 
The most valuable thing that I've learned so far is PATIENCE. When dealing with children, at times it can get a little frustrating. But my supervisor, Alejandra, told me that showing your frustration would only make the situation worse. If you stay calm and patient, you will see that it is way easier to deal with the children. This is internship is important to me because I got to do something productive this summer. I got the opportunity to work in a professional environment, which is something that I will take away when I move on to other jobs in the future.

How has this shaped what you want to do in the future?
Interning at 826LA has opened my eyes to an entirely different world of working with kids. I have always known that I wanted to work with kids but in a non-traditional way. I don’t necessarily want to be a teacher, but I definitely want to be in education while also having fun! I think interning at 826LA made my decision very clear that this is something I can do in the future.

If you could give a future TIP intern advice, what would it be?
The advice I give to future TIP interns is: one, be proud of yourself because you got into this amazing program, but that means you have to keep working hard. Take this internship seriously and always be professional. This may be weird at first, or something that you're not used to, but stay positive. You have many people who are going to be there to support you, like your TIP coach and your supervisor at your internship. Another thing that I would advise you to do is make friends with the other interns. I didn't get a chance to do that, and I wish I would've because this was probably one of the best experiences of my life. Make this experience count. Work hard and enjoy your time here.