Naomi: I was just thinking how at my last externship that I just finished, I was in a subacute site, and this patient that I was working with for voice therapy was like—one day said really quietly, “I like your style.” And I was like “What?” [Laughter] And he was like, “I like your style, it’s just different.” And whenever those things happen in life, I do attribute them—I don’t know if I had them before ATC, or had like a little bit of it and then ATC just gave me everything I needed to build that skillset of just being able to listen to people, and be there for them, you know, in a non-judgemental way and really talking to people and getting to know who they are—
Brenda: Yes.
Naomi: Is the skill that you need in everything in life. And I wouldn’t have had this opportunity to build that most important thing had it not been for ATC. So then I would have went—I don’t know where I would have went! Or who I would have become.
Kris: Right.
Naomi: I would have really missed out on getting to know other humans in this way that helps you to have empathy and build true relationships, you know? So it’s kind of everything. And I always think it’s interesting, like, people will say, when I’ve done other work—after ATC I worked specifically with foster youth for, I don’t know, five years? Four years? And people would always say, if I told them the work that we did with At The Crossroads, and because it’s a homeless population and also some of the most underserved and what people think is challenging, “Oh that must have been really hard.” And I always think, actually—
Kris: No!
Naomi: At The Crossroads was not like easy, but it was the most natural way of being and the most natural way of offering services to people and building relationships with them. And the way that made sense, you know?
Brenda and Kris: Right.
Naomi: And so it wasn’t, it was actually more natural and effective and less—made me feel less burnt out than I have afterwards. You know?
