I had never known how gratifying it could be to see the tangible impact of public service work until I began volunteering with PBHA Chinatown Citizenship. As I became more involved and began directing the organization, I quickly realized that any future career I might want to pursue would be related to public service. However, I felt an uncomfortable tension between the work I hoped to do after graduation and my academics, which did not directly relate to or support my interest in public service. Taking Professor Newendorp’s Engaged Scholarship course on the Chinese Immigrant Experience in America filled this gap in my education, tying together rigorous academic study on community history with focused reflection on our responsibility as service providers, pushing me to become much more thoughtful about my own impact. This course also helped me to explore the local landscape of community-based organizations and nonprofits, introducing me to a wide range of opportunities for intersectional and interdisciplinary work that I had never considered before. The following summer, I had the opportunity to build on these skills with the Harvard College-Mindich Program in Community-Engaged Research with Professor Light, researching intersectional violence and precarity in communities of color through both qualitative and quantitative methods. I gained invaluable first-hand experience working with real constituents and organizations, experience that I will continuously draw upon in my future career.
Sally Chen ’19
