Blog Post #1
Hey everyone! My name is Reagan Bishop (she/her) and I am going to be a senior WSGS and Neuroscience major at Loyola! I hope to get my Master’s in Global Health and go to medical school after I graduate to become an OB/GYN. I am so passionate about fighting health disparities faced by so many people around the United States and the world. I hope to make a difference in the way our healthcare system is today and improve the lives of others. Outside of school, I love to spend time with my friends and my roommate’s cocker spaniel puppy (pictured here). I also work as a pharmacy technician in Skokie.
I decided to do a WSGS internship this summer in order to develop the work I have done in college to work I would be able to do after college. I really wanted to get some hands-on experience before graduating, and knew that I would be able to obtain some of these skills through an internship. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, my internship options were drastically lost and I was really forced to adapt what my summer would look like. However, if COVID-19 has taught us anything (other than how to wash our hands) it is that life is ever changing, and the value of flexibility. This summer I am working with the WSGS Department at Loyola to plan and improve upon our current internship program. We are working together to improve the Sakai site, our internship contact list, and the structure of the course. It is becoming clear how much times are changing and how we must adapt with it. Although this is not the internship I had imagined for the summer, I am having a lot of fun compiling these resources and amazing organizations and learning about how awesome the people of Chicago are!
My work location has been rather restricted to say the least. I have been working from my apartment in Chicago due to local quarantine restrictions. Although there is some convenience and value to working at home, it has been something to get used to. I am sure we all can agree we would like to be able to get back to a sense of normalcy. However, we have been making everything work through zoom calls and emails, and I know I am really learning the value of communication. Although this is not what I expected in the slightest and I did not expect to have to learn to work under unpredictable conditions, I am learning something really important and that will help me in my post graduate life.
Knowing that the world right now is a little crazy, and that my internship and work location are a bit uninteresting right now, I would just like to use the end of this blog post to say that Black Lives Matter, Black Trans Lives Matter, we must dismantle systematic oppression, white silence is white supremacy, defund the police, and that I stand with you.
Blog Post #2
Hi everyone! My name is Reagan Bishop and I am doing my practicum working with the WSGS Department at Loyola to transition the practicum/internship to an online format for fall 2020-the future as well as update the internship lists and contacts with local organizations! I am a senior Molecular/Cellular Neuroscience and WSGS double major and want to go to medical school after graduation. I am greatly interested in women’s health and broader social inequalities and how we can move forward as a society to correct these disparities.
I have done a lot of really cool things since May to work on this project. For instance, I have done a lot of research on and communicating with local organizations. These experiences have given me the opportunity to see how many topics I have covered in my women’s studies and gender studies courses can be applied to the real world. For example, in my research, I came across an organization called Casa Central that targets specifically aiding the homeless Hispanic population. I thought this was an excellent representation of how important the consideration and understanding of intersectionality is in order to effectively make change. Additionally, they invest in communities through various community programs, which I think shows a great depth of understanding, as well as modeling systems to promote future equality. Experiencing the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests this summer has also had a great impact on how I approached this project. I learned more on my own about topics relating to gender and racial oppression in our country and understanding how we can actively make effective change. This led me to seek out more and different organizations than I would have before this practicum. Although I understood systems of oppression from my education at Loyola, after this summer and this experience I know I understand them in much greater depth, and therefore was able to appreciate the value of this type of project on a deeper level.
I have learned a lot this summer about how to better fight and advocate for social justice. An instance where I learned a lot was through emailing local organizations, as well as considering how to transition the practicum/internship class to an online format. Both of these situations better prepared me professionally. Professional communication is vital to any professional area, as well as being a part of an organization striving for social justice. Effective communication is vital in this field. Additionally, when considering how to make documents and the Sakai site the most user friendly, I think that I learned how to effectively execute my goals, which would allow me to succeed in an organization with this type of work. The future lies in social media and the Internet, and being able to create a user friendly platform is vital to reach the most people. Social advocacy lies on the uniting of people against injustices, and being able to communicate effectively online is a great way for me to reach people in my future endeavors.
Blog Post #3
Hi everyone! I am Reagan Bishop and have been working with the Women’s Studies Gender Studies department at Loyola this summer. We have been working together this summer with the goal of improving the internship program to better fit our changing conditions, mainly through transitioning our program to an online platform.
As this practicum is coming to an end, I am truly able to see how much I have learned throughout this experience. Through being expected to keep myself accountable, I have grown as a professional, as well as an individual. I hope this idea of self responsibility will guide me in my career and allow me to do whatever I set my mind to. Especially during such a trying summer, challenging myself to meet deadlines and goals was a growing experience, and I know that this skill will aid me in my future. Additionally, throughout this practicum, I was juggling a few projects. For example, I was continuously reaching out to agencies for internship connections and awaiting responses, while also working on the information packets. This allowed me to enhance my prioritizing skills, which will come in handy especially during this online semester, as well as everyday and professional life. Additionally, I was able to gain knowledge about working online this summer, as my practicum was entirely remote. We utilized Sakai, Zoom, Outlook, and many other online resources. These skills are growing ever important in our currently changing society. Finally, as I have already discussed before, working as part of a team and well as communicating with outside agencies, I have been able to develop my professional communication skills. Previous to this practicum, my experience was pretty limited to communication with professors, which I feel is much less applicable to the real world. I absolutely feel more confident in these skills after this practicum than before.
The advice that I would give to someone considering a major or minor in WSGS is to absolutely do it. I never would have seen myself majoring in WSGS before college, but I am so thankful that I did. I have learned so much about myself and the world around me through the amazing classes that I have taken within the WSGS department. I have met the absolute best people in these classes and really grown as a person. Any WSGS class will provide anyone with a new perspective. Some of the readings I have done have legitimately changed my life. The pieces selected are absolutely beautiful. I seriously could not emphasize further how grateful I am that I chose to add a WSGS major. If you want something to challenge the way that you think about the world, how you see the world shape you, and to meet some amazing people, I absolutely would encourage you to add a WSGS major or minor. The electives you can take are so fascinating and you can really tailor them to fit your interests or your other majors/minors.
Women's Studies/Gender Studies Internship 