What do ADP students actually do?
In a typical week during the academic year, an ADP student spends approximately 16 hours per week* on ADP-related work. Here’s what it may look like: each student…
- Interns 2 – 4 hour shifts, 2 – 4 days per week (9 hr/wk during academic year; 15 hr/wk for cohort B during summer) between the hours of 7:30 am and 6 pm M – F (expect to be scheduled on a Monday and/or Friday, and an early morning as well as a late afternoon)
- Attends the 134 class (twice weekly, 1.5 hr/class during academic year; for cohort B, class meetings are longer in summer)
- Completes course readings (contemporary psychological research and its real-world applications)
- Submits twice-weekly writing-intensive assignments
- Maintains timely communication with 134 instructors/classmates, supervising teachers and fellow interns
- Documents their ongoing observations of children at their internship site
- Attends occasional office hours, additional workshops (at least once per quarter), and, in spring quarter only, 2-3 evening professional development panels
- During the second and third quarter, meets outside class to collaborate with classmates on a group project.
*For Cohort B, a typical week during summer sessions A and C is likely to involve 25 hours of the ADP-related work described above.
A Day in the Life of an ADP Intern by Amy Luu, ADP 2013
Whether we open early in the morning or close later in the evening, interns are greeted with warm waves, smiles, and even a knee hug from the children. We engage in hands-on activities from prepping snacks to rocking children to sleep. We experience close interactions with the children through reading stories together while also learning about each individual child’s development through close observation. Because we work at least 8 hours each week across many months, we are able to observe gradual developments such as an infant beginning to crawl, gaining the strength to stand and even learning to walk, run and jump.
Although working with young children may seem like all fun and games, interns must complete daily tasks such as sweeping the outside patio, continuously sanitizing tasted toys, cleaning up peas that have fallen off the table during lunch, and changing poopy diapers. We may be asked to sit quietly beside children as they nap for an extended period of time.
We come to discover that we can learn from every moment (even the less glamorous or dramatic ones), and that our unique experience with the children and teachers makes even the tedious tasks worthwhile. Diaper changes, for example, become opportunities to engage and share one-on-one moments with a child. Many of us enjoy our time so much that we ask to stay on as volunteers long after our ADP commitment is complete.