Welcome to Gustavus Adolphus College’s Student Stories Series!
Environmental Justice Intern for COPAL Minnesota
Major: Biology and Political Science
What was your career opportunity/experience?
I was the Environmental Justice Intern for COPAL (Communities Organizing Latine Power and Action) Minnesota.
How did you get the opportunity/experience? What steps did you take to achieve this?
I have worked with COPAL before formally and informally, I have worked with them in the past doing a couple of projects and then during the fall and now on call as a canvaser.
Tell us more about your accomplishment.
The work has largely been online with helping write policy briefs or hosting events (Hot Dishes and Hot Topics), or helping set up additional events like Festival De Sol on Lake Street.
Who were some of the people who helped you most at Gustavus to get this opportunity? What did you learn from them?
Monse, a former student here at Gustavus, now works with them currently and helped me get into COPAL. Kate Knutson also helped me gather some connections to get started working with COPAL. The funding from the Center for Career Development was also a big part of why I was able to do what I did, and give time to the organization. It was really cool to see all the connections people here on campus have to different organizations and communities. I had a lot of new experiences with organizations such as ACLU and Indivisible.
How did the Engaged Learning Funds help you be able to complete this experience?
It allowed me to give more time to my internship at COPAL. Since the internship was without payment, the fund allowed me to travel to Saint Paul and Mankato more frequently to talk with my co-workers, spend time planning events, and speak with legislators. Generally, it also allowed me to put more effort into briefs, to spend time setting up events, make connections with organizations that I would have never interacted with otherwise. Thanks to the fund, I have connections outside of Gustavus for the future and beyond.
Anything else you want to share about your experience working with Career Development?
I just want to thank the Center for Career Development for supplying me with the funding necessary to make the most of my internship experiences and making the financial burden lighter.
How have you applied things you’ve learned here at Gustavus to this opportunity? (i.e., Career & Self Development, Communication, Critical Thinking, Equity & Inclusion, Leadership, Professionalism, Teamwork, Technology)
During my time at Gustavus, Kate Knutson, Tiffany Grobelski, Jill Locke, and Eric Vrooman just to name a few, have all pushed me to think more critically about the world we live in and to have pushed me to take action to fight for equity and inclusion, especially in times where we as a society fall short. This is one of the main reasons I took up the internship with COPAL, I saw this as an opportunity to put what I learned and apply it to the real world. I wrote policy briefs on issues in our society that helped legislators make decisions, I hosted events, such as Hot Dishes and Hot Topics here at Gustavus, to give people a safe space to talk about issues of equity and inclusion and allow them to get resources they need. All of this while working with a wonderful team at COPAL, making connections with legislators, and ensuring that they know what we, the people, seek out of our legislators.
