High School Intern Gains Key Experience through Campus Kitchen

Regina Valdez, a Massachusetts high school student, began an internship with the Campus Kitchen at University of Massachusetts Boston last summer shy and unsure. Her greatest fear: public speaking.

"I was reluctant to articulate myself before an audience or stranger, much less a single one of my peers," Valdez wrote. "My internship pushed me to confront my shyness."

Through her internship, Valdez became part of the Campus Kitchen leadership team, helping to run delivery shifts, and meeting daily with the summer camps the Campus Kitchen serves meals to. Soon, Valdez stepped in to plan nutrition lessons and lead volunteers. By September, Valdez helped organize a nutrition carnival for the Campus Kitchen's elementary school partner. In October, she stood up in front of dozens to give a Campus Kitchen presentation at the CKP national conference.

"I could feel my insides prickle in the hours before my oral presentation, Why Community Gardens are Important to Urban Cities," Valdez wrote. "I was surprised to learn later that I actually did well."

Like Valdez, hundreds of Campus Kitchen student volunteers every semester discover hidden leadership skills through their work to alleviate hunger in their communities. While feeding is the focus, the opportunities the Campus Kitchen provides to learn basic non-profit management skills are helping mold tomorrow's leaders.

Valdez will apply her new skills learned while doing good to her next step in life.

“Working with the Campus Kitchen at UMass Boston drove me to improve myself in ways that I had never even expected. Sometimes I still have a difficult time believing that the person I’ve become is actually me.”