Name: Annie Clark
Educational Background: University of Pennsylvania, May 1999
Major: Urban Studies
Minor: Art History
Title: ESL Program and Volunteer Coordinator
Company: Chinese American Planning Company/Public Allies - AmeriCore

9 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

When I first get into work I usually settle in, check my messages, and get ready for the day. What I do next really depends on the day - sometimes I'll have a meeting, do administrative work around the office, or just catch up with my co-workers.

10:00 a.m. - 12 p.m.

In the morning I normally try to correspond with the ESL teachers in my program to make sure that their classes are going okay. Then there's always a lot of documents that need to be filled out and taken care of - and I need to make sure that the teachers are filling out their forms on time. I'll also talk to them about their curriculum and just try to get their feedback on the classes.

12 p.m. - 1 p.m.

I leave the office at noon for lunch everyday. I get the full hour.

1p.m. - 4 p.m.

I spend most of the afternoon finishing up any of the preparation that I have to do for the class in the evening. I haven't been working much on the volunteer program yet because the ESL classes still need to be able to function without my constant attention. Also during this time I work on other smaller projects such as our organization's calendar or networking with other organizations for some reason or another.

4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

I head over to the other office where we have our ESL classroom site around 4 o'clock. The site is the Chinese American Council's job training section - the ESL is just one of the programs that takes place there.

At the ESL site I generally enter the latest attendance sheets into the database and meet with the people who work at the job training program. We generally discuss how the programs are going - the students tend to be very vocal about what they want and don't want even though they're not paying for it. I also do more paperwork once I get there.

5:30 p.m.

The students and teachers arrive around 5:30. Every two weeks we have the teachers come in at 5 p.m. to meet with us and discuss the curriculum and try to assess what works best for the classes. Then I usually finish up the loose ends by 6 p.m. and I go home.

How did you find out about the Public Allies Program?

Do I have to tell the truth? My mom told me about it. She heard about it because the people who started the national program used to work in her office. Most people in the NYC program found out about it through contacts in the nonprofit world. A lot of them were recommended by whatever nonprofit they had been working at or had contact with in some way.

Had you interned with a nonprofit before? Yes, I was a program assistant at a nonprofit arts center in Philadelphia. The internship turned into a full-time position. I stayed there for a while, but then I got an offer to move to New York City that I just couldn't turn down.