For my STEP signature project, I completed an internship with the organization Girls on the Run of Central Ohio. Throughout my project I completed a variety of tasks such as creating Canva graphics for emails, packing and distributing necessary materials for coaches, learning about different ways to interact with young children, researching ways to help children with trauma so the coaches can be fully informed on how to help the girls with the COVID situation, as well as many other projects that are needed to make Girls on the Run successful.

Throughout my STEP project something that changed was my view and knowledge of the different demographics of schools throughout Central Ohio. Before this, I knew Columbus and the surroundings area was diverse, but I never knew the extent of it and this internship really opened up my eyes to it. It made me more grateful for the things I am fortunate to have and increased my desire to help those in need. My internship also drew my attention to how COVID impacts people differently and allowed me to help in any way I could with the resources I had.

My internship was with the non-profit organization Girls on the Run of Central Ohio, which is an afterschool program that works with girls in grades 3-5 to teach them how to reach their full protentional and foster personal relationships while staying active. Throughout my internship I have not only completed training on the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion, but I have been able to transform the training into practice. I worked to help develop programs and at home experiences to help the girls and coaches stay active during COVID-19. This experience helped me see how COVID impacts races differently and that there are less resources for minority people which is something we worked on to change.

I also completed research on diversity in the outdoors and showcased books that highlight diversity for all age groups. In addition to that, I have helped collect and analyze data to compare the racial composition of the schools we served with the demographic characteristics of the teams and coaches. This research allowed me to determine what schools accurately represent the area they are in and how we can increase this representation in not only the participants but also the coaches. This allowed me to see the different demographics around Columbus.

This semester, the Girls on the Run program was all online so throughout my internship I was able to see how all participants responded to this and hear what they thought about it. This experience of being able to see the young girl’s perspective showed me how online classes and COVID really are impacting them and the benefits they got from also participating in Girls on the Run. This opened up to my eyes to how something such as where someone lives and the school district, they reside in can really impact them, especially while going through this pandemic.

This change is valuable for my professional goals because I hope to be a school psychologist one day so I will be working with all of these students I saw throughout my internship. I will be helping them deal with situations such as COVID as well as any other personal situations that may come up and I have to be prepared to help them no matter what. Getting an inside look at the school districts throughout Columbus is going to greatly benefit my future plans.