Sarah Weglarz

I felt my heartbeat in my feet. My hands were shaking. I felt a small drop of sweat slowly trickle down my forehead. Walking through the big double glass doors of my new internship site, you might ask? No – just merging onto I – 70 during rush hour traffic to get there! 

Let’s back up a few steps. My name is Sarah, and I’m an incoming junior at Ohio State. I’m a Public Health Sociology major, but I’m also on the pre-medicine track. Going into college, I knew that I wanted to attend graduate school one way or another, whether that be a Master’s program in public health or medical school, but I was unsure of which path I wanted to take. The more time I spent in college, the more torn I became. So, I began taking steps to delve into each career path more deeply. I started working as a Patient Care Associate at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center and began shadowing physicians in various fields, both of which gave me incredible insight into the world of medicine. However, I still felt that I wanted to explore a possible career in public health. Though the classes I had taken at OSU gave me a solid overview, I knew that in order to determine whether I wanted to pursue higher education in the field, I would need real world experience, so I began searching for an internship. 

I’d never searched for a real job before, so I did what most people who don’t know anything about something would do: I Googled “public health internships near me.” After some sifting through search results, I stumbled across the Columbus Foundation. They’d match me with a nonprofit fitting my professional interests, it was during my summer break, and it was paid — it seemed too good to be true. So, I decided to apply, and I ranked Saint Vincent Family Services as my top choice organization. A few weeks later, I received an email stating that I had moved on to the second round of the application, and a few weeks after that, I had an interview with SVFS. 

After talking with my interviewers, I became fascinated. SVFS seemed to intersect perfectly with all my interests: children, behavioral healthcare, and trauma. During my interview, I learned that SVFS has two distinct programs: Saint Vincent Prep Academy, which is a fully accredited school that integrates therapy and other behavioral healthcare into the school day, and Residential Care, which allows children to stay at the facility who have experienced severe emotional, social, and/or behavioral problems. What I liked even more though, was the motto: We Make Good Kids Better. I knew that the staff at SVFS recognized that no child is inherently bad, they have simply experienced trauma and life events that caused them to display these kinds of behaviors. When I toured the facility, I immediately knew that this was where I wanted to spend my time over the next few months. Every person I met cared deeply about the children they served, were passionate about the organization’s mission, and were extraordinarily welcoming and friendly.

Most of our efforts this week have been focused on preparing for SVFS’ annual fundraising event: Returning to Our Roots, where donors and volunteers can come to learn more about the services that SVFS provides and meet and interact with staff and providers. Though my job most of the summer will be to plan and execute summer programming for children in Residential Care and those attending Prep Academy, this week, it ranged from marketing to event set-up to door greeter. I felt a great sense of community and togetherness, as everyone from the school principal to the CEO were focused on preparing for the event on Thursday. As the week comes to a close today, I feel grateful for the incredible support of the staff at SVFS, especially Sara Russell, Director of Community Engagement and Marketing, and Catherine Sherman, Fundraising and Grants Coordinator, who I’ve worked most closely with. 

 I was nervous on the first day, of course, but because of the staff and support they gave me, merging onto I – 70 was the most nerve-wracking part of my week. I feel excited and am ready to embark on this adventure the rest of the summer!