My Practicum
To complete my Scholar's citation I chose to take an approved class. When looking through the list of approved classes BSOS388B particularly appealed to me. The class is Innovation and Social Change: Do Good Now. This course introduces students to the concept of social innovation while exploring the many mechanisms for achieving social impact. It is team-based, highly interactive and dynamic, and provides an opportunity for students to generate solutions to a wide range of problems facing many communities today. Deepens the students understanding of entrepreneurship and innovation practices by guiding them through the creation and implementation process as applied to a project idea of their choice.
At the very beginning of the class, Professor Preaster asked everyone to identify a social or environmental issue of personal or public concern. My initial issue was non-discriminatory healthcare for women of color. From there we were placed into groups of other students who expressed similar interests. My group's project is called TRANSforming Health Equity. It's an initiative focused on improving health equity for transgender individuals. We had to do thorough issue research, implement design thinking techniques, and engage in class discussion. All class assignments lead up to a final project proposal, similar to pitches made in the Do Good Challenge. Regardless of academic background, I recommend taking this class if you have any interest in finding creative ways to give back to your community.
Learning & Growth
I have learned a lot about the transgender community and what specific healthcare disparities they face, as well as what strategies to use and avoid when trying to effect change. My social skills have grown over the course of this class. I tend to prefer working on my own and at my own pace, but this class is mostly group oriented. I have become more comfortable working with others and learned how to work efficiently in a group. Doing a field informational interview with a healthcare professional as part of issue research also got me out of my social comfort zone. Below is a presentation from this semester. It highlights parts of our project proposal along with successes and obstacles we have faced.
The Future
One skill that I learned from this practicum that I will apply to my life and career is acting with empathy. We learned to first listen and gain new perspectives before going out in the world and executing our own ideas. Even though we have good intentions, it is important to get input from those you are trying to help before following through.
For the rest of my time at UMD I plan to pursue an Actuarial math minor and get more involved with clubs on campus. Although I am not completely sure what career I want to pursue post-graduation, I am considering roles in Business Analytics and Consulting.