Kerry Kennedy Life Is Good Scholarship

Last year, I spoke to a WIC nutritionist, and one thing she said that stood out to me was how she meets her clients where they are and then takes them to where they need to be. This statement made me think about how healthcare workers interact with people from different backgrounds daily, and the same method to help one patient might not work with another patient. For healthcare professionals to truly help someone, they have to assist the patient in a way that works for them and the patient. I then realized that I have been implementing this concept in my public health experiences, yet never defined the term. Additionally, meeting people where they are is crucial in non-medical settings. As an aspiring health educator, I know it is important to teach health in a way that students can understand. This summer, I am working with a Cornell University professor to implement the Youth Engagement & Action for Health (YEAH!) Program focusing on food justice at the Boys & Girls Club of Harlem. The students will critically analyze food businesses and present their solutions to change makers in New York City. When implementing our programming, one of the first challenges we encountered was getting the students to be more passionate and understand how important food justice topics such as nutrition and marketing truly are. As someone passionate about the subject since elementary school, I entered the classroom with the assumption that the high school students would also know background information about food justice. Once my team realized this was not the case for the students, we altered our lesson plans to emphasize the importance of being knowledgeable about nutrition and how many people have limited access to healthy foods. Now, the students are more engaged in the lessons, and the classroom always gets a little rowdy talking about food justice. This experience made me discover my passion for educating students about health topics. These allied health professionals have made me explore nutrition from different angles, and I realized how nutrition is part of many health issues in society. I am extremely grateful that these professionals believed in and invested in me because my public health experience would have been narrow otherwise. Experiences like these make me truly see the value of people offering their resources to help others. I come from a predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhood in California, where few people continue their education to college. As a young Black woman, I approach the world with an intersectional feminist lens. By approaching life with this lens, I am motivated to work hard to value and take full advantage of the opportunities I receive. As someone who strives for excellence in education, I cannot take a chance to win a scholarship for granted. My commitment to education, hard work, and the Kerry Kennedy Life Is Good Scholarship will allow me to complete my career goals of becoming a prominent figure in Public Health, ameliorating health inequalities in the United States, and being a positive Black woman role model for the next generation.