Romeo De Leon on His 2020 (Surprise! It's Remote) Summer Internship

For eight weeks of this summer, I enjoyed my first experience as an intern with Healthy Futures of Texas. I applied to this internship through the Mexico, the Americas, and Spain program offered at Trinity University and received the Alvarez internship grant.

Initially, I applied to the organization due to my interests in public health, but I was actually more connected to the cause than I originally thought. My birth to a teen mom and my home in the Rio Grande Valley made many of the issues discussed within the San Antonio community relevant to me. I was glad to hear that Healthy Futures is looking to expand into the Valley as I feel like the region could really benefit from the organization’s presence.

My participation allowed me to gain insight on how communities can connect with their local governments to make a difference in legislation, and it also helped educate myself on the health disparities present in society today. It improved my understanding of the process that goes into writing curriculum for students and highlighted the support nonprofit organizations provide for each other through intersectionality.

As an intern, I compiled research on the neuroscience of sex education, created databases to communicate with school districts all over the state, worked to develop material for the Youth Advocacy Council of Healthy Futures, and used my own experiences as a Hispanic student from the Rio Grande Valley to provide feedback for all present programs, among other tasks.

Developing some of my own tasks and research allowed me to be creative and improve my presentation skills when communicating my findings to the staff. My own opinions and ideas were well received by the passionate representatives of the organization. The administrative staff of Healthy Futures was also adamant that I learn about the business administration and funding aspects of a nonprofit organization, which I now hope to include in my future career goals.

Regardless of the unfortunate remote nature of my experience, I have developed important professional relationships that I will cherish and continue to support. For potential applicants to the organization, I completely recommend Healthy Futures if you are looking to gain knowledge on community involvement, sexual health, and curriculum development while also garnering your passion for nonprofit work.