Seeing Reality by helping out

I was honored to work at the Hospitality House as a Criminal Justice intern for the Spring of 2022. On the very first day of my internship, I did not know what we were supposed to do at all since me and the other interns were put to work behind the front desk, I was completely clueless. But, thanks to our kitchen coordinator, supervisors, and SA’s I got a great tour in where things were and how to do it. There were things I did wrong which did embarrass me but thanks to our SA’s, I got guided to the right path of doing tasks correctly.

When I first started interning at the Hospitality House, I had no clue what I was going to do. But I immediately started to love working there after my first week. I have never worked in the food pantry before but after the first week, I got to the hang of it. Working in the food pantry felt amazing since you are helping people who cannot afford food. I always had a smile on my face knowing that I made a person’s day by giving them a food box with meat, produce, dairy, and other perishables. It made me emotional when I talked to clients by seeing how much they have suffered throughout their lives to be here.

Working in the kitchen, I probably enjoyed the most. When I got told, we were going to cook food for the Hospitality House my face lit up. I have taken culinary in high school, and I missed cooking stuff every day. Being in the kitchen brought up memories from high school but now I can add more memories of working in the kitchen at the Hospitality House. A few of my favorite parts of working in the kitchen were, cooking food for people at the Hospitality House, interacting with clients and my co-workers, and dancing/ singing.

This past semester at the Hospitality House has changed me so much. At the beginning of the semester, I was afraid to do certain things, but the Hospitality House pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I am very confident now. The Hospitality House made me ready for the next step after college. I want to thank every staff for letting me intern at the Hospitality House, it was an honor working with everyone because the Hospitality House was a second family to me. I can’t wait for what life has in store for me. I have learned so much working here and I will use that knowledge when I move to DC.

Thank you for everything, this is not goodbye but see y’all soon!

Varun Kamat