“For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Rachel and I am a student in the Turning Point Program at Bergen Community College. This program is a two-year postsecondary college program specifically designed for young adults with intellectual disabilities who are interested in enhancing their academic, vocational, and social skills. This college experience and program is non-degree based. I am graduating this spring with credentials and a certification in Disability Advocacy and operational support.”
We are pleased to welcome Rachel Adams-Duffy to the Think College team. Rachel decided in her second semester of college that she really liked writing. In December, an article she wrote was published The Torch, the student-run newspaper at Bergen Community College. (Read it here: https://bergentorchorg.wpcomstaging.com/how-2022-can-be-more-disability-inclusive/.) In the final semester of college, all Turning Point students do an internship in a field they are interested in. Rachel is interested in writing and would like to be a disability advocate, so her skills and interests are a great match for the Knowledge Translation & Dissemination (KT&D) team at Think College! Rachel’s internship is the only one being done virtually out of all her peers at Bergen.
On January 26, Rachel attended the first meeting of her internship. She met with the KT&D team to learn more about what the team does and decide on some basics that would be covered in her tasks during her internship. Some overarching goals include:
- Learning about the process of resource development and dissemination
- Understanding the broad audience that Think College is targeting
- Learning about different types of content and methods of delivery
We’re all very excited to work with Rachel and she is excited, too! Some of Rachel’s first tasks were to sign up for our mailing list, follow us on social media, familiarize herself with the Think College website and provide some feedback on our resources. Very soon, you can expect to see some work authored by Rachel; stay tuned!