If Madeline Cassedy小蝌蚪APP檚 teenage self could see her now, no doubt she would be excited to see she小蝌蚪APP檚 doing work she小蝌蚪APP檚 passionate about and making a positive impact in people小蝌蚪APP檚 lives.
Cassedy joined the staff at Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 Woman小蝌蚪APP檚 Foundation last year and is now one of two full-time community education coordinators.
So much of what Cassedy learned at the 小蝌蚪APP while earning her B.S. in Kinesiology, Health Promotion and Wellness concentration, is vital to her day-to-day responsibilities.
She facilitates the key administrative and hands-on elements of the Foundation小蝌蚪APP檚 youth education programs, including Safe Sitter, the two-part Puberty Series, and Truth, Facts & Lies.
Flexibility and embracing change
As a freshman at UL Lafayette, Cassedy enrolled in the School of Kinesiology, testing and exploring majors and concentrations, trying to find the right fit. The Health Promotion and Wellness concentration seemed to best fit with her interests and goals, but she was hesitant about enrolling in a 100% online degree program.
It took until her sophomore year before she was ready to get out of her comfort zone.
小蝌蚪APP淚 was like, 小蝌蚪APP榊ou know, I think Health Promotion and Wellness is where I need to be,小蝌蚪APP so I made the switch,小蝌蚪APP she says. 小蝌蚪APP淚 just loved it and I just kept going with it.小蝌蚪APP
As an on-campus student, Cassedy had to find workarounds to fit her learning style.
小蝌蚪APP淚 would record lectures so if I wasn小蝌蚪APP檛 feeling that great in a morning class, when I did my homework later, I could listen to them and basically do my whole class over again at my own pace,小蝌蚪APP says Cassedy.
Transitioning to online courses with recorded lectures and assignments she could complete throughout the day did a lot of that work for her.
小蝌蚪APP淚 got a good grasp on how to handle online learning and I really fell in love with it,小蝌蚪APP she says.
Not only did Cassedy appreciate the daily flexibility with online 小蝌蚪APP getting to study when she was in the best mindset for classwork 小蝌蚪APP but Health Promotion and Wellness encouraged a lot of hands-on experience.
小蝌蚪APP淚t definitely was very beneficial all around to have online classes to encourage you to get out into the community because not only did we have the internship, but we had other graded activities where we did have to go out into the community,小蝌蚪APP says Cassedy.
Before she even reached the internship assignment, Cassedy volunteered for a fundraising event, attended a board meeting, and logged clinical hours for a class, 小蝌蚪APP渓ike a mini-internship,小蝌蚪APP she says. 小蝌蚪APP淗aving class online helped me to go out during the day and get all these hours in.小蝌蚪APP
Intern turned staff
Health Promotion and Wellness students can culminate the program with an internship or capstone project. Cassedy chose to pursue an internship with the Woman小蝌蚪APP檚 Foundation.
Her internship quickly evolved into a full-time opportunity as the community education coordinator for youth programs.
She first took over coordinating the Safe Sitter course, which aims to train 小蝌蚪APP渟tudents 11 and up to become effective babysitters,小蝌蚪APP says Cassedy.
Safe Sitter includes CPR training, which Cassedy teaches as she earned her CPR instructor certification from the 小蝌蚪APP.
Cassedy also coordinates the two-part Puberty Series 小蝌蚪APP Body Talk, and Birds, Bees & STDs 小蝌蚪APP and Truth, Facts & Lies.
The programs are designed to equip teens with knowledge about their physical and emotional health, to recognize the warning signs of abusive relationships, and how to maintain their personal safety in public and digital spaces.
小蝌蚪APP淪ome of the best moments I have as a community education coordinator are when students come up to us after class and they tell us how much they learned from our programs and that they never knew some of the information before, and they genuinely thank us for educating them,小蝌蚪APP she says.
More than an online degree
The Health Promotion and Wellness program is a tight-knit community with students building strong connections with classmates and instructors.
小蝌蚪APP淚 realized very quickly that I would be seeing the same instructors every semester, every year, and so I really did get to know a couple of them. And now I feel like I almost email Ms. Lisa LeBlanc every day.小蝌蚪APP
Cassedy says instructors reached out to ask if she needed help preparing to take the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) exam later this month.
小蝌蚪APP淚 thought that was really nice to have certain professors reach out to me and have a personal connection,小蝌蚪APP says Cassedy.
Looking ahead, Cassedy feels optimistic that her skills and interests will lead her to a variety of opportunities in community health education.
小蝌蚪APP淚 really like all aspects of it,小蝌蚪APP says Cassedy. 小蝌蚪APP淎s long as I am promoting health and wellness anywhere, teaching about it, working with it, I小蝌蚪APP檒l be happy because I love to promote health.小蝌蚪APP