This past summer, I was fortunate to intern for Interfaith Works, a non-profit organization providing refugee resettlement services in Syracuse, New York. Interfaith Works provides government-regulated and funded resettlement services. It is their mission to provide these services with respect and dignity. The organization relies heavily on generously donated time and goods to facilitate resettlement and the future success of individuals and families. I interned with the Match Grant program, which offers new Americans additional support to develop self-sufficiency through the means of employment services, budgeting guidance, and basic needs assurance such as housing and food.
At the beginning of my internship, I focused on learning the ins and outs of the Matching Grant program and learned how to manage and organize client paperwork and files. I then contributed more profoundly to the program by crafting resumes, leading job searches, and translating enrollment and self-sufficiency meetings for Spanish-speaking clients. Interacting with the Matching Grant team and its clients in various ways taught me a lot about professional teamwork and time management. For example, managing housing or employment concerns often requires teamwork to overcome language and cultural barriers to reach solutions. With over 100 families and individuals in unique situations arriving at the agency monthly, I have learned how essential each member of the Matching Grant team and their communication is to assure proper support for each client.
As a psychology major, Spanish minor, and pre-law student, this internship and the Honors Fellowship have been incredible opportunities to immerse myself in a personally fulfilling and intellectually exciting environment.
Personally, I enjoyed supporting clients and watching them flourish. I had the opportunity to work with clients who arrived in the United States and began in our programs around the same time I began my internship. I felt a sense of responsibility and compassion toward them and took care and attention when providing employment services.
Academically and professionally, I have learned much about the resettlement process for people with refugee and special immigration (SIV) status. This has encouraged me to explore social psychology and immigration law opportunities for the upcoming year.
Thank you to the Fordham Honors Program for this opportunity!
This summer, I had the privilege of working as a visiting researcher in Dr. Juan Del Valle’s lab at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN. The Del Valle lab is part of the Notre Dame Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and a major focus of the lab is peptide and protein mimics. My specific project concerns an interaction between two proteins, Tau and Fyn kinase, that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. I am working to develop peptides, or small protein fragments, that inhibit the Tau-Fyn interaction and therefore slow the progression of Alzheimer’s. This summer I have focused primarily on creating an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that will be able to test whether or not the peptides I make are effective inhibitors. I will be using this assay back at Fordham as I continue my project in Dr. Nicholas Sawyer’s lab, which will ultimately provide a central focus for my senior Honors thesis.
The Del Valle lab group is composed of mostly graduate students and a few undergraduate students. Because Fordham does not have a chemistry graduate program, working among graduate students and having one of them as a mentor was a novel experience for me. I gained exposure to several new laboratory techniques, while increasing my competency as a scientist and helping with other Tau-related projects. I received valuable guidance as I navigated the numerous roadblocks of assay development, as well as academic and career advice from colleagues currently on the PhD track I hope to pursue. I also exercised independence when it came to the progression of my project, taking responsibility for experiment workflow and data analysis.
In this position, I have met fascinating people from around the world and become immersed in the campus culture of Notre Dame. I spent the summer surrounded by the cutting edge of scientific research and had the opportunity to envision my future life as a chemistry graduate student. I am beyond grateful to the Honors Program for making it possible for me to engage with the Del Valle lab and dive into my research that ultimately seeks to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
Over the summer, I had the amazing opportunity to intern for ExCELL (Excellence in Children’s Early Language and Literacy) because of the generous grant given to me by the Fordham Honors Program. ExCELL’s goal is to improve the literacy rate of young children in Richmond, Virginia, and help prepare preschoolers for success in kindergarten. The program works with the Richmond Public School system to run a summer school program called Ocean Adventures for children who have just completed preschool and are headed to kindergarten in the fall. There is also a strong focus on strengthening relationships between the children, families, and teachers through family engagement events. Some aspects of ExCELL’s summer program reminded me of the FCRH Honors Program because of the Honors Program’s emphasis on education, connections with professors, and small, seminar-style classes.
ExCELL provides all materials needed for the summer school program, including books, classroom decorations, arts and crafts, learning materials, games, lesson plans, and more. Without ExCELL, the program would not exist, and many children would go into kindergarten underprepared and set up for difficulties in school. For my internship, I helped organize the office and prepare the Ocean Adventures materials to be sent to the schools. I worked alongside another intern to plan and prepare materials for family events and brainstorm ideas for increasing family attendance and involvement. I also occasionally communicated with Spanish-speaking children and parents, as many people in the program are ESL learners, and I am pursuing a minor in Spanish.
I had a wonderful experience working for ExCELL, and I am so thankful for the incredible opportunity given to me by the Honors Program. Through my work, I learned so much about the literacy crisis in Richmond, the importance of starting education in the household and focusing on reading and writing, and the effort that goes into planning events. It was very fulfilling to see my hard work and the work of the organization pay off in the joy of the children’s faces in each summer school classroom. I am leaving ExCELL this summer feeling inspired by my coworkers and their passion for supporting literacy and the children of the greater Richmond area. I cannot wait to follow along and see the program grow.
Authors: Isabella Alcantara, Quinn Burke, Andres Caballero, David Cepeda, Reese Dains, Adriana Duran, Isaac Forson, Julia Gudis, Sean Huynh, Natalie Loo, Claire Murphy, Jolie Robison
All participants, including the group chaperone, Frances Tiburcio, at Hospital Castañer
This past June, the Fordham Honors Program sent twelve students on a Global Outreach (¡GO!) trip to San Juan with the goal of learning about Puerto Rican culture and the social justice issues present in Puerto Rican communities. Throughout the two-week trip, a mix of community engagement opportunities, reflective moments, and competitive Exploding Kittens games brought us together to create an unforgettable trip.
In the semester before our trip, our team met weekly to learn a little about Puerto Rico’s history, fundraise donations for the organizations we were working with, and practice our Spanish. By the time June rolled around, we were excited and ready to go. After a smooth flight over, we were immediately thrust into a hectic schedule. The average day looked something like this: wake up for breakfast at 6:30am, head to the first activity by 8am, break for a quick lunch around noon, then head to our second activity until dinner at 6pm, followed by a group reflection and an early bedtime to make sure we were ready to do it all again the next day.
Julia, Andres, and Claire with doctors at the Dr. Garcia Rinaldi Foundation
Most of our mornings were spent with the Dr. Garcia Rinaldi Foundation, shadowing neurosurgeons and plastic surgeons as they operated. We were particularly inspired by the passion of all the medical professionals in the neurosurgery rotations. Everyone cared about their coworkers like family and readily welcomed us into the surgical rooms as if we were their own students. The Foundation also took us to the San Juan Bautista Medical School, where we attended talks with professors and met with current students. Another day was spent touring Castañer Hospital, a hospital serving Lares and the surrounding mountainous area. There, we heard from more doctors and learned about the history of Lares, which played a pivotal role in the resistance movement against Spanish colonial rule.
Natalie and Adriana at ACUTAS
Through the places we visited and doctors we spoke with, we had the chance to learn firsthand about the Puerto Rican health system. Many of the doctors would talk about Puerto Rican “brain drain,” a term referring to the mass exodus of medical professionals from Puerto Rico to the States, largely due to the struggling higher education system and the difficulty of pursuing a fulfilling, well-paying medical career in Puerto Rico. We also discussed the health insurance system, learning that Puerto Rico insurance reimbursement rates are drastically lower than in the mainland. All these issues are largely tied to the island’s history of colonization and current problematic status as a U.S. territory. We continued to see the effects of brain drain beyond the medical field when we spent a morning in Ceiba volunteering with geriatric patients. Many had not seen their children and grandchildren in years as they, like so many others, had left the island in search of better professional opportunities. It was a privilege to eat, talk, and even dance with these elderly Puerto Ricans, many of whom were almost 100 years old.
Andres, Sean, Natalie, and Reese at ACUTAS
Our afternoons were typically spent at ACUTAS, or Asociación Comunidades Unidas Tomando Acción Solidaria, a community center founded in the wake of Hurricane Maria to serve the Toa Baja community, which was largely neglected in the government’s recovery efforts. As the community continues to recover from the 2017 hurricane, with the local public school reopening only last year, we got to help revitalize the organization’s space by scraping off old paint and mold and laying a fresh coat of paint on their walls, ceilings, and fences.
Isaac at ACUTAS
Amidst the sweaty, physical activity, we got to hear about the personal experiences of those working and volunteering at ACUTAS. One woman, who has struggled firsthand with the flawed healthcare system, has dedicated her entire life to serving her community through ACUTAS. She and many others had personal experiences with Hurricane Maria and were passionate about the political and social change they hoped to see and create in Puerto Rico. Like with the neurosurgeons, we were struck by the strong sense of community at ACUTAS and their initiative to take care of one another. We’re glad we got to contribute a small part to this organization filled with people who so clearly love their community and are committed to serving others before themselves.
Julia, Claire, and Quinn during a rest day
Between our time at ACUTAS and with the Foundation, we found time to visit the island’s beautiful beaches, grab some ice cream at a local shop, and take a tour of Old San Juan, where we learned more about Puerto Rico’s history, visited an art gallery, and did a bit of shopping. Throughout all our activities, the eventful van rides between them, and the meals we cooked together, our team formed lasting friendships and countless valuable memories.
This trip was an incredible opportunity to immerse ourselves in Puerto Rico’s beautiful culture — from the music and food to the warmth of the community — and learn about the history and inequities on the island. We are grateful to our ¡GO! leaders for all their planning, our chaperone for her patience, and of course Global Outreach and the Honors Program for making this all possible.
