Stepping Up by Cecilia

Stepping Up by Cecilia - January 2017 Scholarship Essay

I joined the Love Cultivating Schoolyards internship (LCS) because I noticed large health disparities within my community such as lack of access to healthy food. LCS consists of after-school gardening programs that serve elementary to middle school students in low-income communities. In Oakland there are more fast food restaurants than supermarkets, making it nearly impossible to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I see the effects of this first-hand in my community and my family, who are pre-diabetic. Through this program I’ve learned about the benefits of healthy eating and I plan to continue helping my community by intervening with healthy alternatives and making organic produce accessible, specifically through gardening with youth.
Three years ago when I began my internship, I had a hard time speaking in front of students but I was able to challenge myself and improve through my role as a teacher assistant. Currently, I teach my own gardening class where I plan and lead hands-on gardening activities for 15 fourth graders. One afternoon after teaching a session on how to plant lettuce seeds, I was surprised to find a student waiting for me to ask if he could have lettuce seeds because he wanted to show his mom how to plant them in his backyard. He planned to make a salad out of that lettuce by passing down the knowledge he learned. Witnessing the positive impact I had on youth reaffirmed my decision of returning to LCS since my hope is to continue teaching students skills that will help them make healthy eating decisions on their own.
I’m committed to this program with the goal of making healthy food accessible and I have honored this commitment by teaching students the skills to grow their own produce and selling the produce grown around the multiple gardens to low-income families at an affordable price. I’ve begun to see improvements in the eating habits of my community and family. While I never thought of myself as a leader, this internship gave me the tools and confidence, but most importantly, the passion to be an effective and change-making leader within my community.