Stanford University Urban Studies &
Urban Summer Fellowship
Student perspectives of community-engaged learning and research across the United States
My name is Dayonna Tucker and this summer I worked with NeighborScapes, an organization committed to improving neighborhood conditions in the Chicago land area. As I look back over my internship, I would say my work wasn't the most substantial gain from this experience, but the networking opportunities that came along with them. I met with lawyers, marketing executives, community organizers, Englewood residents, and even Jack MacNamara. All of these connections led me to think more about myself and my relationship to the communities that I am a part of. Am I doing my part? Are those that are in positions of power listening to my voice and the voices of my fellow community members? Do we have access to resources to improve out quality of life? All of these questions are essential to ask in community building.
I also got a sense of what career paths I would enjoys and those that I wouldn't. This summer experience has lead me to realize that community organization isn't the career path that I want to go down, but I learned so much about the hard work that goes into getting a non-profit off the ground. Seeing so many leaders talk about how they left their regular 9-5 jobs to follow their passions to work with people in communities made me think about my own passions. After giving my own passions some thought, I realized the performing arts are what I'm passionate about, and there are many different ways to advocate for people during those mediums. I personally don't think I grew much over the summer with the tasks that I was assigned (meaning I grew in other ways. I definitely saw leaps of personal growth this summer!). I did a lot of reading initially to get familiar with the topics we were tackling, and it was difficult not having any tangible ways to measure my work progress. I had to find ways to deal with wanting instant change and instant progress. This internship made me really look at community work as a journey, and change doesn't happen over night. There are several meetings, emails, write-ups, and grant applications in between before the final target is hit. Later in the internship, I started working on marketing for the organization. So, I revamped the website, and put them back in touch with social media. I also created a social media plan for them to follow when they hit particular milestones throughout the next few months. In the future, I plan to find ways to apply the things that I've learned working in Englewood to the communities that I am a part of. I'm from Harvey, IL, and the city is facing very similar obstacles to Englewood. I hope that with post college success, I'll be able to give time and money to the issues in that area. I will also be attending an Echoing Green Conference in October, which will expose me to the many organizations finding innovative ways to help people across the world. I am extremely grateful to have been given this opportunity by the HAAS center and I truly did have a good time over the summer with my internship!
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AuthorThis blog is authored by Stanford University students engaged in summer fellowships through the Cardinal Quarter and the Program on Urban Studies. All writings and thoughts belong to the Fellows and do not represent the opinion of the sponsoring programs. Archives
September 2018
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