Transforming Futures Student Stories
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Q&A with Transforming Futures 2024 Interns
Learn more about the students in the Transforming Futures program. IST intern, Belle Esters, connected with Transforming Futures students to highlight their 2024 summer experiences.
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Learning what it takes to restore ecosystems
Megan Deevy, an environmental studies major with a concentration in conservation science and policy, interned with Reef Renewal a coral reef restoration nonprofit in Curaçao, through the Transforming Futures program. “Being able to physically add to the growth of the reef made a significant impact, and I could see how the work we were doing…
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Protecting immigrant communities
Through the Transforming Futures program, Maria Larenas Coronel interned with East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, a nonprofit providing legal aid and social services for immigrants fleeing violence and persecution. Larenas Coronel, a politics major minoring in legal studies, said the internship affirmed her desire to become an immigration lawyer. “I made our clients feel safe sharing…
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Q&A with Transforming Futures 2023 Interns
While a part of the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Internship Program (CUIP) for the Institute for Social Transformation, Grace Nilsen created a social media campaign to highlight student experiences in the Transforming Futures program. These are the interviews from the summer cohort of 2023.
Campus stories
Leading by listening: Marianas Fernandez’s journey to becoming a student leader
UCSC student Marianas Fernandez excels in academics, activism, and athletics, earning recognition and awards for her leadership and contributions.
UCSC student and two time scholarship recipient shares her transformative experiences
Lizeth Peña Sanchez (’24, education, democracy, and justice, Latin American and Latino studies, and sociology) received scholarships from The Institute for Social Transformation’s Transforming Futures and Building Belonging Programs. She shares how those experiences prepared her for her future goals.
The opportunity to transform futures
With the generous support of donors, UCSC’s Institute for Social Transformation funded 12 students to pursue internships over the summer through the Transforming Futures program.
Transforming Futures: Amanda Safi
Transforming Futures— a pilot program launched by UC Santa Cruz’s Institute for Social Transformation—awarded seven first generation, underrepresented, and/or low-income UCSC students scholarships to pursue unpaid internships over the summer. Amanda Safi interned with the Office of Congressman Jimmy Panetta.