Name: Genesis Garcia

Year: Senior

Majors: Communication Sciences and Disorders, Psychology

Minor: Spanish

CFS Program: Field Studies in the Public Health

Employer: Legal Council for Health Justice

For my last quarter at Northwestern, I decided to bring some purple pride into Chicago through CFS. I love having one foot in Evanston and the other in the Loop, I love waking up a bit earlier than all my friends and people watching on the purple line express, but most of all I love working on healthcare and education issues that I am passionate about. One day I am researching lead exposure levels on cities’ public health departments, attending a bill hearing the next day, and using my Spanish speaking skills to translate documents in between. At my internship, they treated me as a member of the team since the interview process. The people at my organization care about my interests and try to align my projects accordingly. I knew little to nothing about law before starting at LCHJ, but now special education law data that I analyzed was published on WTTW, a public television channel in Chicago.

The intern mindset is different from the student mindset. The work you are producing is valuable and is disseminated to the community, it does not end when a grade is posted on Canvas. However, the public health seminar has probably been one of the most enjoyable 3 hour courses I’ve taken at Northwestern, and it goes by quickly! We go over issues that connect to all of our internship experiences, with different groups of us preparing materials and leading discussion week to week. You have a group of fellow interns to share your successes and bumps in the road with. It’s been wonderful to be able to bloom in both places.