Caitlin Weber

Major: Kinesiology and Health
Company/Organization: Iowa State Extension & Outreach (Story County)
Company/Organization website: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/story/
Destination: Ames, Iowa
Timeframe: Summer 2024
Advisor/Coordinator Email: dpower@iastate.edu

Responsibilities

As a Youth Outreach Intern, I primarily coordinated, promoted, and facilitated research-based educational youth programs. I also attended meetings and events with partners such as Story County Hunger Coalition, Special Olympics, Ames Farmer’s Market, etc. I assisted with hosting the Story County Youth Fair along with other 4-H events and performed administrative duties as needed.

Accomplishments

The greatest accomplishment of my internship experience was developing a nutrition-related youth activity and implementing it during multiple ISU Extension events, such as our booth at the Ames Farmer's Market and at the Story County Youth Fair. The engaging, hands-on activity utilized research-based USDA and MyPlate resources to teach participants about serving sizes of fruits and vegetables and how many servings are recommended per day.

Learning experience

During my internship experience, the greatest lesson I learned was how to communicate effectively with many different audiences. Although I was a Youth Outreach Intern, I also had outreach experience with teens, older adults, Special Olympics athletes, and more. Over the course of the summer, I learned how to tailor my communication to be the most effective and engaging with each group. This skill will be extremely helpful in my future career as a nurse!

What advice would you give?

I would advise future Kinesiology majors not to stress too much about choosing a career path during their first year in undergrad. It's great to shadow different professionals and try out whatever degree options interest you until you find the best fit. I switched majors three times until I decided that Community and Public Health was for me!

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