First-year student makes most of winter break
Kyla Goux ’21 supports work of Humanize My Hoodie Project for first college internship
Internship supported by: Nancy Lyon Porter ’43 Community Service Fellowship
Student majors: Considering political science and psychology (currently undeclared)
About the project: “Humanize My Hoodie is a social-clothing project that is helping to break down the threat perception surrounding black people, particularly men, in hoodies. I reported directly to one of the project’s co-founders, Minneapolis NAACP president Jason Sole, during this internship.”
Internship duties: “Over the three-week internship, my main responsibilities were scheduling interviews and focus groups, taking notes, organizing meetings, making flyers and posters, and responding to emails.”
Powerful stories: “I was invited to go to an NAACP ‘Mask Off’ event, where just a handful of personal friends and family were invited. Individuals shared their stories of important or ‘masking’ moments in their lives and then proceeded to, by sharing, take their masks off to show the world they would not be defined by these anymore. It was a very powerful event.”
Eye-opening experience: “This winternship has opened my eyes into how one person who is not directly involved with politics can change how people live. The ‘private’ sector, so to speak, is powerful, and one person, like Jason Sole, can impact so many lives with his influence and words. I aspire to be more like Jason and to have my words carry and make an impact.”
Choosing to double major: “I like to understand how people think and how they make decisions, so there’s the psychology portion, but how those thoughts and decisions get put into actions like voting and advocating for policies is where the political science really fascinates me. They blend as a good double major to me because they can go hand in hand on more than one occasion.”