Bayley Bowser is a Community, Family and Addiction Sciences major who is completing an internship at the Women's Protective Services of Lubbock this summer.

As an intern, Bayley's daily duties are always different.  On Mondays she buys bulk groceries for the clients and on Tuesdays and Thursdays Bayley assists the Social Referral Advocate with disbursing the groceries. All of the women get milk, eggs, cereal, canned goods, meat and fresh vegetables.

Bayley aids the clients in creating and editing their resumes along with searching and applying for jobs. In her position, Bayley also teaches a job-readiness class.

Part of Bayley's job is just to encourage the clients and lift them up.

“All of our clients come from some kind of domestic violence, whether it be physical, mental, verbal, or emotional,” Bayley said. “And by us telling them that they can get the hob they never thought they would is helpful because we have to fuel hope in our clients.”

Bayley said it is hard for people in crisis to think they can do something that seems so far out of reach.

Bayley decided to choose Women's Protective Services for her internship because she believes it represents a population that has a taboo attached to it.

“We as a society don't want to talk about domestic violence even thought 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner,” Bayley said. “As a domestic violence survivor myself, I felt that I needed to give back to the community that helped me.”

Bayley said the best part of her internship is the clients. She said if she's having a bad day prior to coming to the shelter, the women will cheer her up. Bayley said they truly have gratitude and show that every single day is worth living and persevering.

Bayley said the hardest part of her internship is watching intakes.

“In this time, we learn the client's story and what brought them to the shelter,” Bayley said. “This is hard for me because as a survivor myself, I can never understand why someone would abuse another human.”

Bayley said this can also be the best part because she is able to tell the client they are safe now and they are there to help them and build them up.

Bayley said her time in the College of Human Sciences has prepared her in a multitude of ways for her internship, as each class has helped her in each task she is assigned. She said the parenting class she took that showed her everyone parents differently, but no matter how you do it love and support should always be the forefront.  Bayley said talking to clients about their parenting style and helping them reflect on how they talk to and treat their children is an epiphany moment.

However, Bayley said the class that has been most helpful is Contemporary Families because it helped her understand that every family is different in their own right and that doesn't make a family system negative, just different.

“Differences are what make us better,” Bayley said.

Bayley said she will use what she has learned in her internship in her future academic career by knowing even the smallest thing she learns in class will help her in the future. She said people are dynamic and different from each other and it is imperative we understand each other's differences and learn from them.

Bayley said Women's Protective Services is wonderful place that is always looking for volunteers.