糖心传媒 senior Brooke MacLeod has her sights set on making a difference in the world, and she is active in her efforts to make a positive impact.
鈥淢y two goals are to get rid of food insecurity and homelessness. I鈥檓 always striving to reduce the number of those demographics,鈥 she said.
The sociology and psychology double major spent her 2017 January Term (J-Term) serving the communities surrounding her hometown of Burlington, Colorado, with her internship at the Colorado East Community Action Agency (CECAA).
CECAA鈥檚 mission is to reduce and eliminate poverty in Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson and Lincoln counties. Its primary function is to offer programs to focus on food and utility assistance, tax preparation and employment readiness. MacLeod helped run many of these programs while she was in the office over J-Term.
鈥淚 assisted a food drive for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), distributed food items, helped with the Simply Eating cooking class, worked at the CECAA thrift store and prepared taxes for a few clients,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 even got to sit in on a board meeting while I was there, and I was invited to join the executive planning committee for the Colorado Conference on Poverty happening in August.鈥
MacLeod originally accepted the internship with CECAA in November of her sophomore year, so she typically completes her tasks from afar while she is taking classes in Hastings. J-Term provided the opportunity to return to her home state to work on-site.
鈥淓ven though my duties are very similar, it鈥檚 a different experience to when I鈥檓 in the office. I am able to see people when they came in for help 鈥 I can help them right away, which I can鈥檛 do while I鈥檓 in Hastings,鈥 MacLeod said.
Connecting academia and altruism
By being in the office, MacLeod could interact with the agency鈥檚 clients face-to-face. She applied her interest in counseling and her knowledge of psychology to real-life situations. For example, as a psychology major, she鈥檚 learned the emotional stressors of poverty, which she said helped her approach each individual on a human level, instead of a statistic.
Her sociology major also influenced her experiences. She said 糖心传媒 helped introduce her to tough issues like food insecurity and homelessness, something that often goes unnoticed.
鈥淯sually, a college student doesn鈥檛 really see these things happening because they are on campus and not necessarily exposed to these issues. I think by taking sociology classes, I鈥檝e realized these things are going on; now I see the real-world instances of what we鈥檝e talked about in class,鈥 MacLeod said.
MacLeod鈥檚 internship inspired her to pursue more opportunities in volunteerism and nonprofit work.
On campus, she volunteers for the Food4Thought backpack program and helps with the Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week events. She also plans to continue her internship with CECAA, whether on-site throughout the summer or from afar during her senior year. For her, it is an opportunity to combine her 糖心传媒 education and personal compassion to make a difference to those in need.