Like some college students, Milwaukee’s Jack Glusman had planned to spend part of his Summer volunteering. He was set to work with the not-for-profit organization Kuzamura Ubuzima Growing Health Inc., through the program DukeEngage. The organization’s mission statement is to fight malnutrition in Rwanda by providing nutritious organic meals to hospitalized patients and promote the knowledge of nutrition, sustainable agriculture, and wellness.
When COVID-19 struck, the Duke university freshman returned home and found a way to participate in a meaningful internship.
What was your reaction when your school went to lockdown?
My initial thought when Duke went into lockdown was that this would be temporary and that summer plans would continue as normal. I was just going to spend an extra week in Milwaukee and then get back to finish my freshmen year. Then it was the same experience that everyone else had; plans and daily life got gradually cancelled and changed.
What was your internship set to be?
Originally, I was set to travel to Rwanda for eight weeks with a group of other students to work for the not-for-profit called Growing Health Inc.
From March to the end of April all the DukeEngage students were in limbo. We had no idea if our summer plans would be cancelled or not. Ultimately, the university cancelled all DukeEngage plans but created a new program for the students who were supposed to have a project.
This new program allowed students to reach out to a not-for-profit community organization and basically offer yourself as an eight-week free intern for the organization. Duke gave me a grant and the community partner - what they are called by Duke - got essentially free labor over the period.
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What did you end up doing in Milwaukee?
I ended up partnering with the Milwaukee Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). I am involved with rebuilding their website as well as working on the Milwaukee Smart Restart Grant.
MEDC partnered with the city to help them vet and distribute grants to small businesses as everyone gets back to work, so for the last couple of weeks I have been working on that. I am glad I got to work on the Restart grant. It is relevant; helping businesses that make up the identity and backbone of Milwaukee get back and keep their doors open. MEDC has given me real responsibility within the project and I feel lucky to have ended up working for them this summer.
It is all remote. Meetings are now zoom calls and I have to build relationships with my superiors over emails. Weird, but it works.
What do you think you learned from the experience about adapting to situations?
I think my biggest takeaways have been staying flexible, but I also feel lucky. DukeEngage stuck to their promise of a meaningful summer experience and they got it done in a pandemic.
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