Reflective Journal #1: Prior to starting your internship: Write four goals you have for your internship.

Such goals may include: what you hope to learn, skills you would like to gain, who you hope to help,
responsibilities you would like to be given, etc. Explain how these goals relate to your major, major
courses, and/or your career aspirations. Explain how you will know that you have met your goals. Reflect
on why this internship is important to you.
During your first week: Set up an initial meeting with your supervisor. During this meeting, discuss your
goals for your internship and plan ways to accomplish these goals. (If you must alter your goals after this
meeting, make mention of the change in your journal entry.)
During your first week: Write about the history of the agency, types of job positions in the agency, types
of degrees or certificates required to work there, salary range, and job satisfaction. Is this a place you
would like to work in the future? Why or Why not? Discuss why you decided to intern at this particular
organization. What is it about the organization or agency that interests you? Does it relate to a career in
which you would like to continue?
I wanted to get to know Quetzaltrekkers a bit more before writing goals for what I hope to accomplish so
my goals will be turned in after this week of training along with my second journal. I will set up a meeting
with my supervisor Ben and talk to him about my goals as the week progresses and I see the goals I
want to have.
As far as the second part of this journal prompt, Quetzaltrekkers has been a non-profit organization that is
all volunteer run that began in 1995 with the aim to help children gain an education in the city of
Quetzaltenango (Xela), Guatemala. The profit from the tours goes directly to the children who need it the
most-street children and those at risk of becoming street children. This is accomplished by a partnership
with Escuela de la Calle (School of the Street) that receives the funds from Quetzaltrekkers and provides a
school and a place to stay for those children. The funds also help a scholarship program so that those who
qualify will be able to attend the university.
At Quetzaltrekkers everyone works everywhere. Certain guides are in charge of certain areas but can
receive help from other guides because everyone is trained in the same thing. There is no education
requirement to volunteer at Quetzaltrekkers in regards to degrees or certifications. From what I have
heard, because this is a volunteer position the job satisfaction is high because everyone who is here really
wants to be here and firmly believes that what they do actually is making a difference. They can see the
difference they make as they work and spend time with the children at the shool.
I would not want to work here in the future because it is a volunteer position but I am thinking I may want
to work somewhere similar where I can make a living while making a difference. One thing I am hoping to
figure out while here in Guatemala is if I want to be a guide as a future career so I hope this does indeed
directly relate to my future career.

Reflective Journal #2: Reflect on your attitude toward work and learning. What are you willing to commit
to your internship agency? What specific things do you intend to do during your internship that will
demonstrate your commitment to the agency, your interest in learning, and your dedication to the quality
of your work? Include the actions and behaviors that will demonstrate your positive attitude toward work
and learning.
First of all, I have a great attitude about learning. I have loved learning all my life. Yes there are times that
learning is really hard but most of the time I find it really enjoyable. I also feel that work should be hard. I
have had jobs where I am mostly sitting and doing small tasks and jobs where I am helping chopping down
trees. If I come home from work exhausted, I feel that I have succeeded. I think it is fine for work to be
hard, many times I like work to be hard because I have physical or mental proof that I have made some
sort of difference in what I am doing.
I am ready and willing to commit three straight months to Quetzaltrekkers so that I can learn as much as I
can about the organization and why we exist: to help the children and youth of Escuela De La Calle
(EDELAC) and El Hogar. I am also committing this time to help me learn about being a guide as a career
option for my future. I will bring my work ethic and diligence to this agency to demonstrate my complete
commitment to Quetzaltrekkers. I have thus far enjoyed learning about how this organization runs, how
each specific trek runs (and runs well), and about the guides and clients. I think that we as volunteer
guides need to work together like a well-oiled machine to be able to accomplish all that we do. I want to
learn more about the other guides and get to know them better so that I know how we can each do our

part in making this whole organization run. This can be a bit difficult because we all are volunteers and
that our minimum time is only three months (though some stay longer) but I believe that though this can
be seen as a major set-back, we can use our individual passions to accomplish some great things. I think
that if we all work together to learn about each other we will be able to always be in the performance part
of the group development. I really think this is possible because we are volunteers and working for a
cause. We can use that as a pusher to look past ourselves and really focus on why we are here-to help
EDELAC and El Hogar.
I will prove by my actions that I am dedicated by always arriving to work on time, having a plan, even if it
is making it up as I go along, to be productive each and every day I have here in Guatemala. I will make
sure my attitude is a positive one to help create and keep a good atmosphere where learning and work can
happen. I will also keep an open mind to more learning even when I am one of the old guides and am
teaching the new guides the ropes. I know that the teacher can learn just as much from the learner if they
have an open mind. I hope to share this attitude with the other guides to make the work and living
environment an even better one.

Reflective Journal #3: Ethics are the standards of conduct of a particular profession or group. A dilemma
is defined as a situation in which one must choose between difficult and conflicting alternatives. Ethical
dilemmas often require one to choose between options that are not 100% right or 100% wrong.
Identify and write about the ethical standards in your field or planned career. Some professional
associations have written codes of ethics on their web sites. Consult your agency supervisor to learn what
ethical standards exist and what standards you are expected to follow. Discuss a real ethical dilemma that
actually has arisen at your internship siteor discuss a potential ethical dilemma that could arise at your
internship site.
I think some very important ethical standards in my field are environmental ethics, leadership ethics,
safety ethics and educational ethics. As people who take others into the outdoors I think we have a great
responsibility to have and teach these types of ethics. Environmental ethics is important because it is
where we recreate, travel, and live. Basically if we dont have this ethic system, the quality of what we love
so much will diminish. Leadership ethics is very important because we have the opportunity to help others
learn in so many different ways. As leaders we have the chance to help others learn to become leaders
themselves. Safety ethics is important because if we respect this ethic system than we will be
knowledgeable and prepared for whatever can happen on each adventure. Educational ethics covers all
the others because I firmly believe that the outdoors creates a very special and unique environment to
learn and as educators we can create this environment so that everyone, including ourselves, can learn
things they never expected to learn.
Since there are no official supervisors, I asked several of my co-guides about what ethical standards exist
here at Quetzaltrekkers and what we all expect each other to follow. The ethics of money management is a
big one. Once we become official Quetzaltrekkers guides we have access to all the money we make. We
are expected and expect others to do the right thing with money, this includes being responsible and
honest in all our financial doings. Ben, my unofficial supervisor, said that here you have to do what you say
you are going to do and that you have to be your own supervisor here. He also thinks that people have
gotten a lot more out of working when they actually want to do what they do and that is us here. We all
have the same basic work ethics because we really dont have to be here. We choose to be here and stay
because we love what we do, not because we are paid to be here. Part of being your own supervisor means
coming to work on time and working while at work.
We also are expected to treat our clients ethically as well as treating each other in the same manner.
Everyone is equal here, we all have different specific assignments and jobs but if we all treat each other
with respect and following our own personal ethic systems we can work through some of the more difficult
situations that may arise. As far as treating our clients ethically, if we do so, we will have happy clients,
great treks and even better referrals.
I think a potential ethical dilemma that could arise for me personally is conflicts between my own set of
ethics and morals and that of the other guides. I am a very religious person and along with my own set of
ethics, I have many that are guided by my church. Many of the other guides are not religious at all and
have some very different views than myself so I could see some potential ethical dilemmas happening. I
think it would be hard to arise to an actual dilemma because I feel that I have a lot of patience and I
respect others and their personal life decisions even if I dont necessarily agree with them. I think that will
deter a lot of potential dilemmas, respect and patience.

Reflective Journal #4: As you complete the transition from student to professional during this internship,
the personal characteristics and skill sets developed as a result of the college experience should prove
extremely beneficial. How has your transition to this internship placement gone so far? What skills or
techniques have you learned in school that made your transition easier?
My transition to this internship has gone very well thus far. It took a little while to get use to how this
organization is run but once I caught on to that I really have been excelling at guiding and developing
myself as a guide. Transitioning into an established group is always a bit difficult because of all the
different group dynamics but the personalities of the guides that were already here when I arrived were
open, supportive and fun even if they were a bit different than my own. More recently I have been
transitioning into a more experienced guide especially with new guides coming in to volunteer. This has
been really fun because I am able to teach them all about the treks and the ways in which we travel. I
think this transition has been the most exciting for me because I do enjoy teaching and sharing information
that I have learned from school and previous experiences.
I feel that I have already integrated much of what I learned from the AOP core into my outdoor trips and
planning of trips and that is no different here. I have most definitely utilized the skills of packing my
backpack correctly and I have been giving tips to the other guides as well as the clients so that they are
more comfortable. Sizing a backpack is a valuable skill that I have used that really lets the clients know
that I know what I am doing, even if I am younger than them. This is something I remember talking about
in some of my AOP courses, being professional and knowledgeable so that age does not matter. It has
been fun to see this in action and to do small and simple things to let the clients know that I know what I
am doing which in turn helps them feel safe and have a better trip. In the PRT core I remember learning
about diversity and I also took a health and diversity class and I have implemented those bits of
information into how I treat people of very diverse backgrounds and cultures. I definitely try to have an
open mind when learning about different people because I want to be respectful and learn from them.
Everyone has a different story and history and I feel it is very important for me as a guide to create an
environment where multiple stories can unite so that everyone can learn and/or experience something
new. We really arent selling a product, were selling an experience and I know that many more skills and
techniques that I have learned in all my schooling have come together, when needed, to help me create
this experience for my clients.

Reflective Journal #5: Describe how you are continuing to work toward your goals. Have you completed
any goals? Which ones? How did you complete them? What are your personal standards for determining
success in your internship? What have you done to ensure that you meet those standards?
I feel like I made my goals to last my entire internship, with that in mind, I do feel like I am always working
towards my goals and to go above and beyond. My first goal: By December 1st I want to know all about
being a guide for Quetzaltrekkers and to know if guiding is a path I on which I wish to continue. This does
have a date/end point but I am continuing to learn about the background information and history of the
treks and areas of the treks. Part of how I am doing this is learning from other guides, guide binders and I
have started to read Bitter Fruit, which is about a part of Guatemalan history that is very recent and
relevant to many of our treks. As far as me knowing if guiding is a path in which I wish to continue, yes.
However I dont think tourism guiding is the area of guiding I want to do. I want to be able to connect to
the clients and help them personally rather than just showing them cool sights and views. I really enjoy
that personal connection especially when growth and progress is involved.
My second goal is being realized in very similar ways as my first goal is. Being open to learning and
growing myself is very important if I want to share what I learn and experience with each of the clients I
take trekking.
My third goal is going well though the date has been pushed back a few times because of how busy I have
been with trekking so often. I have noticed that other guides will come to me to ask first aid questions and
that makes me happy that they feel comfortable enough and confident enough in my knowledge to come
asking.
My personal standards for determining success in my internship-wow, this is a pretty intense and deep
question.
Some aspects of determining my success would be the hard work I contribute to the task at hand as well
as helping others. I feel successful when I work hard and looking back at the past two months, I feel very
happy with the work I have put into this organization. As far as helping others, when people come to me
with questions or tasks, and I am able to help them out, I do feel like I have succeeded in some way.

Reflective Journal #6: Describe an unexpected issue that you needed to handle at work; list the people
involved using generic titles not names, discuss any back ground information relevant to the situation,
describe the actual incident and your response, evaluate the effectiveness of your response and suggest
how you would handle a similar situation in the future.
We recently have gotten a new guide here at Quetzaltrekkers and how that process works is the new
person comes in and pays for a regular trek, we call this trek their client hike and then that potential
guide learns and works in the office for a week, called their trial week, and then we have our weekly
meeting where we have an interview with that potential guide where we make the final decision if we want
them to be a guide or not. So the issue began with six of us guides going on a weekend adventure
together where the potential guide was brought up in conversation and we all had some weird feelings
about him. This potential guide is indeed a unique individual and some of us couldnt place why we had
this weird feeling about him. I believe my weird feeling was the strongest and I mentioned that because of
that, I hadnt made any extra effort to get to know him. Now I have tried to understand what this feeling of
mine was about the potential guide but I never figured it out. So as the majority of guides we (the six)
decided that we should push his interview back a few days so we could get to know him more and see
more of his work ethic. We let another guide know of our thoughts and plans and he spoke to the potential
guide letting him know that we were going to push his interview back just a few days. What we failed to do
was tell two other guides about this plan. We failed to tell them because they got back late from a trek and
after all the after-trek work was done we went straight into dinner and then our weekly meeting where we
mentioned that the interview would be pushed back. The unexpected issue was that the two guides that
didnt know this information got very heated about how that was unfair to the potential guide and that we
should have his interview right then and how that potential guide should be put on the calendar to go out
trekking. It was a very interesting situation because the potential guide never once spoke up about him not
being put on the schedule or having his interview moved back. It was just the two other guides arguing
with one guide about the potential guide but with everyone in the room for it was our meeting. This went
on for much longer than needed and I was trying to think of a nice way to let the two arguers know that we
wanted to give the potential guide more time to see if we actually wanted him there because the majority
of us had some weird/bad vibes from him. I really couldnt think of a way to nicely say that so I stayed
quiet. Finally another guide jumped in and explained that we had discussed this issue with the potential
guide and he was okay with his interview being postponed. This finally got to the other arguing guides and
thus diffused the situation quite rapidly. However the whole argumentative situation left everyone with a
bad taste in their mouths and a bit on edge with each other. I had no effectiveness to my response
because I was still trying to think of a correct way to talk to them about the situation so I had no response
what so ever. I have been working on voicing my opinions more but I do feel that I failed a bit in this
situation so given this issue again I would actually respond and speak up. One very good way to do this
would have been to speak up and ask the two other guides if I could speak to them for a moment outside
of the room we were all in and quickly let them know of the situation and reasonings behind the rest of us
pushing back the interview for the potential guide. This way they would have been informed privately
without getting into a heated argument in front of the potential guide about them. Also to completely avoid
a similar issue in the future I need to be aware of the other guides and be inclusive with important group
information so that this miscommunication doesnt happen again.