In America, most high school students in their junior year begin to think about career choices, but Mei Li Chen, a recent immigrant from China, had to think about those choices while also adapting to a very different culture in a new land. Mei Li and her family came to America just three years ago from Guangdong Province, China, and live in Cleveland, where she attended a public high school.

For Mei Li, the biggest challenge was adapting to the language in America. Even though she had studied English while living in China, she wasn't fluent in it. "When the phone would ring at home, I was nervous about answering it, because I was afraid that I wouldn't understand what the caller was saying," she remembers. Mei Li wanted to overcome that awkwardness caused by the language barrier and experience American culture, not only at school, but also in a work setting, to prepare for her life ahead.

The Cleveland Municipal School District referred Mei Li Chen to Youth Opportunities Unlimited, a United Way of Greater Cleveland partner agency, for training and placement in a summer job internship. A very bright and ambitious student, she was considering several possible careers, including health care, and the internship would provide her with work experience related to a career path.

Mei Li attended workshops on job-readiness taught by Fran Burton, who runs the Employment Services department at Youth Opportunities Unlimited's downtown location. Very quiet at first, Mei Li was dedicated to completing every assignment and willing to take on any project given to her.

Fran referred her to Developers Diversified, where Mei Li worked in back office support during the summer of 2005. "Every time I called Developers Diversified to follow up on Mei Li's progress, her supervisor gave her rave reviews," says Fran.

Working with the elderly
Early in 2006, Tom Weaver, an internship consultant at Youth Opportunities Unlimited, recommended Mei Li for a summer internship opening through Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging. The agency placed her at Asian Evergreen Apartments, where she assisted with the elderly nutrition and congregate meal programs.

"Working with the elderly people at Asian Evergreen Apartments reminded me of my grandfather back in China," says Mei Li. "When I would see the seniors at lunchtime, they would offer me food. I think, as grandparents often do, they worried that I wasn't getting enough to eat," she recalls with a smile.

The residents living at Asian Evergreen Apartments are mostly Chinese, and very few of them can speak English. During the internship, Mei Li translated a nutritional health screening questionnaire for the elderly residents, entered data from completed questionnaires into a computer program and assembled packets of nutrition information tailored to their individual health needs. She then assisted her supervisor as an interpreter to discuss the results with the seniors.

Fresh Insights
As part of her internship, Mei Li wrote an insightful paper about her supervisor's role as a social worker helping the elderly. In it, Mei Li wrote about an older couple at the apartment complex who, like many seniors, have medical and money problems. "I cannot imagine if I could be as strong as them to fight with illness, even if I was young and had a stronger body," says Mei Li. "They just looked like ordinary people to me before we had this conversation. But I saw them doing exercise every morning, talking, laughing and doing things as others would do. Great people don't have to tell the world how brave they are."

Mei Li is now a freshman at Ohio State University and is considering a major in chemistry to prepare for a career as a pharmacist. And her involvement with the United Way-funded employment preparation program at Youth Opportunities Unlimited had an added benefit: It gave her a meaningful experience that helped her to better understand and appreciate the elderly in our society.

Youth Opportunities Unlimited works with disadvantaged youths to help them develop the skills and abilities required to succeed in school and work so that they realize their dreams and potential. For more information, call 216-566-5445 or visit youthopportunities.org.