Self Reflection

I completed my internship at Saint Agnes Home, Inc (SAH) located in West Hartford Connecticut. I was assigned to single Teenage Mothers. The Saint Agnes is a non-profit program licensed group home run by the State of Connecticut Department of Children and Families for pregnant and/or parenting adolescents and their babies. The mission of the Saint Agnes program is to provide residential care and support services to single pregnant and parenting teen mothers and their babies. The Saint Agnes Home program emphasis values, respects life, and recognizes the unique dignity and optimum potential of each person served. The program is staffed by licensed clinical social workers, registered nurse, and other college prepares professionals.

The process of finding an internship was very stressful for me. I honestly had no idea where to start or even what I was interested in. It took me many weeks to do research into different facilities that had internships available. After calling tons of organizations I finally interviewed at one that felt right for me. The interview took place with Laura Crain, who I also interviewed for this essay. The internship is at the McHenry County Substance Abuse Coalition.

Between my freshman and sophomore year of college I completed a 450 hour internship at All Children’s Hospital. This internship although it was mainly administrative showed me a side of hospitals that most people don’t see. I was able to see the behind-the-scenes of fundraising and public relations. I had first hand exposure to the world of fundraising for an organization that relies on fundraising. Two years later completed my bachelors of science in general business management.

I continued to gain experience in health care. I worked at the student health center, creating and distributing relevant health related information, on campus and I worked as a home health aid. These college experiences enhanced my insight into the world of health care and provided me with greater excitement about becoming a health care provider.

For my internship, I served under the Allegheny County Health Department in Pittsburgh, PA. I served as the National Health Corps Member for the Women, Infants, and Children Program as their Care Coordinator for all nine offices. Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a supplemental nutrition agency that targets pregnant and postpartum women and young children ages 5 and under who are at risk of malnutrition. My supervisor Annie Nagy along with my mentors in the office made sure I was able to receive all of the materials and resources I would need to have a complete and successful internship.

My work experience includes internships at a substance abuse clinic and psychoeducational treatment program where I worked directly with populations ranging from children with

For my cooperative practice in AHS 393, I interned at Indiana State University’s Student Health Promotion (SHP). SHP operates under Student Affairs as a part of the Student Counseling Center to create and promote a healthy college community. They focus on encouraging students to identify the benefits of, need for, healthy lifestyle choices through the promotion of comprehensive mind/body wellness, timely marketing, ongoing direct interactions and by supporting a community that enables these choices. My supervisor was Janet Weatherly, the associate director of SHP. My main duty and favorite part of my co-op was running their Motivational Monday programs. Each Monday we tabled in HMSU to talk to the student walking by about a different health topics and resources. Overall, I really enjoyed my co-op. I loved interacting and making a difference right here in my local community. No two days were ever the same! My only wish was if we could have stayed and done more programs.

The summer of 2014, I interned at the Economic Development Office for the state of Texas. The office was tasked with preparing relocation incentives for companies in order to create jobs. The office was split into different departments totaling about 45 people.

It was there, I volunteered with the Health Outreach Quality Improvement Program (HOQI). At first, I questioned how an RV bus could serve so many people. After training, I was hooked! My original role as a volunteer transformed and with time I became a Site Leader, overseeing a group of 10 pre- medical students and completing reports of their performance for my 8th avenue clinic in Alachua County. I valued talking with families, most whom came from Central America and were leery about receiving treatment. Because my parents are immigrants from Jamaica, I readily identified with them. I recall my mother often attempted to use natural remedies before visiting a physician, making teas to alleviate ailments. Able to identify with their concerns, I reassured them about the services they were receiving. Later, as a volunteer in a soup kitchen, I was again able to connect with people from diverse backgrounds, especially the homeless population. Preparing meals, I saw that small efforts can have a huge effect on the lives of

The internship was a channel to direct my passion for helping others; my supervisor assigned me numerous projects that involved communicating with community leaders. One project was a collaboration with the U.S. Probation Office to reduce recidivism, and it allowed me first hand encounter on how to create policies and procedures to promote community and individual growth. This insight has inspired me to attend law schools to influence legal policies. After the internship, I continued my involvement in the community outreach through the Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters and The Females' Center of Excellence & Leadership, Inc. by mentoring at-risk youths and providing learning opportunities to the youths.

My desire to both supplement and apply the wide-ranging experiences, skills, and academic background that I have acquired throughout my college career thus far have driven my interest and excitement to participate in the BSF internship this summer. I am motivated to gain the hands-on experience necessary to further my knowledge in the public health sector, as well as to better prepare myself to join the work force after completing my undergraduate degree. The collaborative projects and challenges that I would have the chance to work on within this internship directly correlate with my career goals- to work to contribute to the protection and improvement of the health of all families and populations through the sciences of public health. I see numerous opportunities to achieve this goal through bringing awareness through educational campaigns and interactive activities in health, illness, and wellbeing among the UCSD Community Stations. Furthermore, the prospect of being able to work in teams with individuals from different academic disciplines with various

During the program I did research and shadowed, but the most memorable part of the program was following their NeighboorhoodHELP program. The program allows for medical students to provide care to households in the Miami community while allowing them to see the harsh realities of their community. Being a part of that experience was very transformative because it gave me first hand experience with the health disparities in underserved communities. The families had limited health literacy, did not have health insurance, or lived in a food desert. Their ability to make healthy choices or receive proper health care was diminished. The underserved population’s level of health literacy is one factor that keeps these health disparities in our communities a constant. A future goal of mine, as a physician, is to educate and communicate well with my patients. Trying to give them a better insight in making healthier lifestyle choices so they can prevent a number of diseases. During my time in Miami I also had the opportunity to participate in cooking classes for diabetes patients and grade school children. Implementing programs that would increase the access and awareness of healthy food options is something that I want to be a part of in

For the past semester, I have been doing an internship at the Aging and Disability Resource

What experiences (volunteer or paid) contributed to your interest in the field of public health?

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