UNH Cooperative Extension student internships change lives. Internships with Extension, the Stewardship Network, N.H. Sea Grant, county 4-H chapters, and the Dalrymple Graduate Student Fellowship connect students with real-world issues and organizations. Two former Extension interns share their experiences.
Stephanie Wright '07, '11G
When Stephanie Wright began her Extension internship at Seacoast Youth Services in Seabrook in 2006, she had no idea it would set her course for the next decade.
"Working one-on-one with kids, I realized that I wanted to pursue that as a career and possibly do some counseling," Wright explains. "At SYS, I saw there are a lot of youth here who had challenging backgrounds, and I could potentially have a positive impact on their lives."
Wright found a mentor in Rick Alleva, an Extension Youth and Family field specialist. Alleva helped arrange her internship at SYS, something she says "opened up so many doors and got me out of my bubble at the university." As an intern, Wright worked on the Seacoast Youth Leadership Project, a Child, Youth and Families At Risk Extension 4-H grant initiative.
The internship paved the way for a job at SYS from 2007 to 2009. Wright left the organization to pursue a master’s degree in social work, but returned to SYS in 2012. She now provides substance use prevention and early intervention services to local middle schools.
SYS gives young people and their families "hope for the future. It builds community resilience and fosters positive social engagement," Wright says. It's also provided her with a community of her own — a Vermont native, she says her internship helped her fall in love with the Seacoast region. She now lives in Durham with her husband and son.
"If it wasn't for Extension," she says, "I wouldn't be here."
Joanna Lewis '17
In 2014, Joanna Lewis wrenched glossy buckthorn from the woods in Brentwood as the first intern for Cooperative Extension’s The Stewardship Network: New England (TSNNE).
"We couldn't ask for a better beginning. Jo set a high bar for maturity, competence and enthusiasm," says Malin Clyde, Cooperative Extension specialist and TSNNE coordinator. "It was clear she was going to do great things."
As an intern, Lewis found success with a variety of projects, from easement monitoring and field research to bird tagging and volunteer outreach. A student member of the UNH chapter of Engineers Without Borders, Lewis and her team traveled to Peru three times to work on a project to bring clean drinking water to the rural mountain community of San Pedro de Casta. After earning her degree in environmental engineering, Lewis embarked on her next adventure: joining the Peace Corps to improve water quality in Panama.
"I really liked the idea of living in the community," Lewis says. "I hope it will lead to more sustainable and integrated community-driven projects. Whether that's establishing a water supply or cleaning an existing one, I have no idea. But I'm looking forward to whatever role I'll play."
Lewis credits her time as an Extension intern with inspiring her to make the world a better place. "There is a connection between stewardship and service. TSNNE showed me the importance of connecting people to incite change," she says.
All those summer days pulling out glossy buckthorn helped, too. "I spent every day that summer outside in the sun and heat," she says with a laugh. "In hindsight, that was definitely good training for Panama!"
This story originally appeared in the 2017 edition of Radius.
