Grant Recipient: Alexandra Patrick ‘13
Major: Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Organization: Northland Family Help Center
Location: Flagstaff, Arizona
Interning at Northland Family Help Center is challenging, but rewarding. I spent much of the first and subsequent weeks learning about sexual assault and domestic violence, bullying, gender in the media, and how to work with men (and women) to prevent sexism and sexual violence. I mentored teens and led workshops on personal growth and development (an important part of prevention) at an overnight summer camp for a week. Throughout the entire process I have been given the opportunity to design my own projects, and treated just like a member of the team. I since planned several workshops, including a bystander intervention training for 18-25 year olds using theater games, and a workshop for adults and professionals in the community where they will gain creative solution-making tools to prevent and respond to sexual assault in their personal and professional lives. I designed a study to identify gaps in the community response to children and youth exposed to violence, and will be interviewing adults who work with children in the coming weeks for this project. NFHC hopes to use the information I gather to enhance the community response to this population. So far, my internship has been engaging, but challenging. I work mainly on my own, and have had to take a lot of initiative. However, it has been great experience, through which I have gained important skills, knowledge and more confidence in myself and my abilities.
