Wheaton News

Winter internship: Youth and Family Services of Haddam-Killingsworth, Higganum, Conn.
Award: Nancy Lyon Porter ’43 Fellowship
Major: Public health

Keeping busy: “I created activities in order to facilitate two weekly after-school club meetings for selected middle school students—GIVE, a club devoted to community service work, and INSPIRE, an all-girls club devoted to female empowerment. I created a new Facebook page for HKYFS and completed a variety of office duties as requested. I also provided one-on-one marijuana prevention counseling for a high school student who had been seen by the Juvenile Review Board, a discipline board which acts as a community alternative to the juvenile justice system for youth that are experiencing conflict at home, in school, or have broken the law.The director gave me the authority to pave my own experience through involvement with facets of the organization that I feel most passionately about and best relate to my career aspirations.”

Tools of the trade: “While redesigning the HKYFS Facebook page, I learned just how beneficial and powerful social media can be if responsibly used as an awareness and fundraising tool for nonprofits at any scale. Hoping to eventually enter the nonprofit sector, I was happy and eager to learn about the ins and outs of the grant that HKFYS had recently received. I attended a meeting with another local recipient of the same grant and  was pleased to see collaboration between nonprofits as I learned about styles of grant writing.”

Shaping the work: “My favorite part of this internship was the liberty and responsibility that was given to me. The director gave me the authority to pave my own experience through involvement with facets of the organization that I feel most passionately about and best relate to my career aspirations.”

Widening the career scope: “As a public health major at Wheaton, with a concentration in health education and advocacy, I plan to continue my education in pursuit of a master’s degree in public health after receiving my bachelor’s degree. Having interned with Planned Parenthood, a large nonprofit, this summer, I was glad to diversify my public health experience working with a smaller, community-level organization this winter.”

Winter internships