Student Quotes

Across the board, our current students report being transformed and inspired by their internship experience. Here's what they have to say:
 

"What I'm taking with me is a new sense of being empowered. After CUSP I decided to leave behind self-doubt/self-consciousness because even though I am very young, my drive to become a change agent makes me powerful beyond measure."
 

"I expected to be told what to do, and ended by learning that I had to use my analytical skills to understand what needed to be done and then take action. I've learned that although we like to be told what to do, sometimes you have to pitch in and just create something yourself - with no help - especially when others need you to act to make things happen for them."
 

"I'm leaving behind my naivete that people who have difficult lives - like inmates - don't have feelings and families who love them. They are all human beings who need understanding and care."
 

"I'll be taking new listening skills with me. I've always been a talker, but didn't do much listening, especially to people who I disagreed with. I've learned that there are different points of view just as valid as mine."
 

"I'll be taking with me a new respect for the communities we say we're here to serve. They have strengths and richness - even in their poverty - I had never realized or appreciated well enough."
 

"I am taking with me the experience of doing community outreach and observing firsthand the problems of this society and the system, as well as the rewarding feeling of getting to know people in the agency, and of helping people in the neighborhood try to get their problems addressed."
 

"I'm taking with me everyone in CUSP. I've learned from each of them and will keep these memories with me forever."
 

"I'm taking with me a new sense of self-confidence I lost awhile back. I now know I need to stick with the things I believe in, and work hard to make them happen."