Internship Mentioned in Local Jewish Paper

I kindly thank Rabbi Yonah Berman to pointing me to this new blurb in the Jewish Ledger, entitled "New Rabbi in Town":

There’s a new rabbi at Beth David Synagogue in West Hartford. Sort of. As it has for the past few years, the Orthodox congregation is opening its doors this fall to a third-year rabbinical student from Yeshiva Chovevei Torah, a rabbinical college in New York, who will intern at the shul under the tutelage of its spiritual leader, Rabbi Yitzchok Adler.
Drew Kaplan, a native of suburban Columbus, Ohio who holds a degree in Jewish Studies from Yeshiva University, will soon begin his monthly Shabbat visits and will have a wide range of responsibilities.

Although I will have to let them know that I did attend Yeshivah University for a few semesters, I earned my BA from Indiana University, I do, nevertheless certainly appreciate the mention (thanks!).

First Internship Shabbas

For my first internship shabbas this past weekend, we started off on Friday afternoon, going around with my mentoring rabbi to check out some supermarket bakeries to check their adherence to kosher laws on Friday afternoon. He then got a call about someone's death and went to offer prayers with the family, though I was unable to go, as the body was still there and I am a kohen. On Friday evening, I spoke at the shul between kabbalas shabbas and ma'ariv for a few minutes about Deut. 29.14. On shabbas morning, I gave a sermon - actually, my first ever such sermon - on Deut. 30.6. The little speech was, in my mind, a flop, although the sermon worked decently. However, I was told I needed to speak up, though from the bima, I thought I was being loud enough, but, alas, I was not. Other areas where there is room for improvement are my clarity as well as enunciation/avoiding mumbling.

Shehitah Course

This past summer, I took most of a shehitah course. I say most, as the course is still ongoing. We have learned about slaughtering chickens, of course, but also about sharpening our knives and what to do with the chickens (although we could also do other kosher fowl, as well). There were six other YCTers plus me learning with an interesting rabbi in Westchester county on this topic.