Rachel was a Stronger Families Intern for Utah Valley University during Winter 2025.
Briefly explain what you did and the result of your internship.
This internship is really unique in that there are about two weeks of pretty intense training and preparation and then the program is turned over to the interns for the 8 weeks of classes. I taught each teen class with different co-teachers. Though we were teaching the same curriculum each time, the actual lessons we taught and topics we discussed were always different based on the individual needs of our class. The other interns and I planned for, prepared, and taught classes following a well-researched and nationally accredited strengths-based curriculum, followed up with our assigned families weekly, counseled with each other on strategies to help specific individuals, worked side by side with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services to get individuals and families further resources in the community, and did our very best to help families recognize their strengths and progress along the way.
What did you learn on your internship that you were not expecting to learn?
I learned so much from this! The biggest thing for me is that this internship unlocked a huge passion for community education and working with individuals and families in a meaningful way. Education really is the gift that keeps on giving! Not only do I have better skills for my own family, but I have seen firsthand the reward of focusing on the small things like one-on-one time, family dinners, meaningful conversations about expectations, and practicing healthy communication. This program focuses on strengths and what is already going well in a family and takes a goal-based approach to the things that could be improved. I want to continue that approach to progress for my whole life!
How have your future plans changed because of what you learned from your internship experience?
This internship gave me the skills, confidence, and connections to give back to the community through education and opportunity. I have a clearer vision for what I want in my own formal education and in my future career. I gained a lot from this experience that will translate into everything else I do in my life. This internship solidified my dream to do community education and help families through prevention and intervention like this.
Please share how your experience led to personal inspiration or insightful revelation.
It gave me a different perspective on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It takes a lot of humility and courage to first of all, recognize that help is needed and then to go to a family class taught by college students of all people! Jesus invited and loved and that is exactly what I did in this internship. He wants us to have joy, and sometimes receiving that joy means taking a step back and making some changes in your life to be a better person, friend, parent, spouse etc. He helps us change and gives us a direction of where to go. The Stronger Families Project has similar intentions and gave these families a map of how they can build on their strengths to have a stronger family unit.
Would you recommend this internship to other students?
Yes! It is an awesome team environment and you get to stretch yourself out of your comfort zone. It is really rewarding and gave me transferrable skills.
