This summer, I had the pleasure of interacting with and helping neighbors during my internship at Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana under Richard Gordon, the Director of Community Engagement. I primarily helped with data analysis and conducted a long-term summer research project exploring the intersection between food insecurity and mental health, and identifying what mental health resources are accessible to neighbors within Gleaners’ 21-county service area. Through this work, I began to understand how food insecurity and mental health challenges, like many other challenges, are connected through a larger web of societal and economic factors.
Beyond my research project, I experienced many aspects of Gleaners’ work. I spent time volunteering and interacting with neighbors through tabling, distributing flyers, and conducting surveys. I also gained hands-on research experience through the Resource Center’s long-term impact evaluation. I helped recruit interviewees, sat in on interviews, took notes, and transcribed and cleaned data. One of the most meaningful parts was hearing personal stories. These conversations gave me a deeper understanding of the challenges behind the data and showed me how research can combine data with individuals’ lived experiences to create a fuller understanding of an issue.
My experiences at Gleaners also reaffirmed my desire to become a psychiatrist. Spending my time communicating, helping, and interacting with neighbors who are going through difficult experiences strengthened my passion for psychology and my desire to help people through more direct, individual interactions. Additionally, the time I spent working on the long-term evaluation
project, learning about grant proposals, and conducting my own summer project helped me become more familiar with the research process, which I know will be valuable as I continue pursuing my goals.
Overall, I experienced many new things at Gleaners and I want to share a special thank you to Mrs. Rodgers, Dr. Wetzel, and the GHI program, who made this opportunity possible, and to Richard Gordon, Enrique Mares-Villicana, Brent Bridwell, Sarah Estell, and the many others who poured their time and knowledge into me this summer. I am grateful for everything I learned during my time at Gleaners. The people I worked with and got to serve truly made my time there special. I feel like I have become a better man through this experience, both professionally and personally, and I look forward to carrying these lessons with me into the future.
