Welcome back!
As promised, I’ll dive right in today and talk about more of my summer. As I’ve mentioned numerous times, I’m participating in the Lumpkin Summer Institute for Service Learning.
So…what exactly is this fancy schmancy program? Essentially, this program (through Wellesley Career Education) allows rising juniors like myself to engage and participate in social change by working at different non profits in the Greater Boston area.
Just a quick side note: there are TONS of internships sponsored by Wellesley Career Education – including grants for unpaid summer work! I highly recommend checking that this page to learn more.
Anyway, back to Lumpkin. The institute is special for a variety of reasons: firstly, there are only nine of us, and we all live together at Northeastern University. Secondly, the institute also consists of a weekly two hour seminar (held by Career Education) to delve into the work we’re doing, understand the impact it has on us/others, and enable us to think about other things that relate to our future career plans, such as our goals, values, skills, etc.
For example, this past week, our seminar consisted of a discussion and activity where we all assessed our values, and what we thought were important to us in the future. For reference, my top three were: growth, family & friends, and self knowledge/mindfulness. The seminars have been useful and a nice way to connect better with not only with others Lumpkin fellows but also myself!
At my internship at MLPB, I’ve been absorbing so much! My day to day life varies a bit, but here’s a glimpse as to what I’ve been doing: researching social issues such as intimate partner violence (IPV) and domestic violence for training webinars, analyzing data and impact to uncover prevalent health disparities in vulnerable MassHealth populations, researching laws and social policies on housing, income, and immigration to address health needs, and finally, shadowing case reviews with medical and legal professionals. As you can tell, I’ve been busy!
I love learning about the medical-legal collaboration MLPB does. Initially, I had never considered the value in the two collaborating, but it has proven to be useful.
Outside of work, I went to my first baseball game at Fenway Park! I love baseball and this game was crazy! The Boston Red Sox (and their fans) do not disappoint! During the game, it started pouring rain, but if anything, that increased the enthusiasm in the stands by tenfold. Also, for those of you interested – you can get college student tickets for Red Sox games for $9… Check here for more info!
Fenway Park
And finally, just [another] quick Boston appreciation note. I walk home everyday after work, and the walk takes me through the Beacon Hill neighborhood (one of my favorite neighborhoods to walk through), Boston Common, the Public Garden, and Back Bay. Sometimes, I like to switch it up and take a new path home. Last week, instead of continuing straight on the path to Boston Common, I decided to turn right and venture further into the Beacon Hill neighborhood. I was just walking along, occasionally turning if I thought it felt right. I saw some water up ahead, and thought it was from the Public Garden, so I kept going. Oh, boy, I was wrong. Instead, I walked right to the Charles River! I decided to keep going east, and then spontaneously walked along the Esplanade until I turned on Mass Ave and headed back. Of course, it was the perfect day out with a clear blue sky and of course, there are pictures…
Anyway, enough fangirling over Boston for now. That’s my update for this week. Have a wonderful 4th of July, everyone! Stay safe.
See you next week,
Shreya