Niadiquay Everette, a rising senior at Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High School, is a 2014 summer intern at MDC. During Niadiquay’s six-week internship, she’ll be contributing to the North Star blog, reflecting on her internship and MDC’s work. In this first blog post, Niadiquay outlines how the internship fits into her long-term goals.

You know what I would like to be? A bird or a tiger – I have always adored their strength and the admiration they receive from bystanders. Of course, that’s probably not likely to happen, but I do believe there are no limits in life for most other aspirations. My number one career goal is to teach females, especially young females, about their bodies. I desire to change the world through female health advocacy and my organization of words.

Since age 13, I have wanted to become an obstetrician/gynecologist. I grew up in a family of three brothers; inevitably, I was a tomboy who did not pay much attention to her health and hygiene. My mother did not teach me much about my health and body, because she was not taught much herself; I was left to seek information through family members and the Internet. It was great that I learned, but it would have been better to have people around me who knew about the female body; I would not have had to be oblivious to my bodily functions for years.

I also love journalism. Words well organized can have an amazing influence on individuals. Many teachers have told me that I am great at writing; why neglect a talent if you can change the world with it? Through journalism, I can express myself and my ideas in ways unimaginable; I can travel the world advocating for women’s health, while recording individuals’ opinions about the topic. What could come from my efforts is amazing: Women who are more confident and aware of their bodies.

Summer of Discovery

When I leave this earth, I want to be able to say that my career made a difference in someone’s life. That is what MDC does. The organization thrives off of helping people and bridging gaps. They not only help people become employed, but build a better, more productive society; not only is the organization facilitating programs that will create a more productive and successful generation, but they are doing it in the South. This is essential, because the South has a significant history of inequity and oppression. I am excited to become a part of this movement. I am anticipating a summer full of discovery. In particular, this summer I want to:

• Change my thoughts: I want this summer’s experiences to change my mindset about something; it does not matter what the topic is. I want to learn more about how income affects a person’s health, and how we can get more youth who are living in low-income families to break maleficent cycles of poverty.
• Learn about nonprofits: I want to learn what it takes to run a nonprofit. I aspire to work as an obstetrician/gynecologist in a low-income community. It will most likely be through a nonprofit organization, so the information I learn in my internship will be extremely helpful.
• Improve my team skills: People who work for nonprofit organizations work in many teams and build connections. I need to learn to rely on and trust the team. I work well in teams, but I prefer to work alone; I need to change that mentality because I am aware that the more people on a project, the more ideas arise. I’ve already seen this at MDC through their partnerships with other organizations.
• Build professional and communications skills: I would also like to build my communication and professional skills. In this world and workforce it is all about professionalism and communication. Who would not want to be excellent at both? For nine months, I have worked at Elmo’s Diner on Ninth Street. Professionalism for that job is different in some ways from MDC. At Elmo’s my dress attire will be different than for my internship, because there is a different purpose and scope of “costumers” than in my restaurant. I will be doing a lot of writing here, especially for the blog; this will allow me to receive feedback to improve my writing skills.

All in all, I am looking forward to this summer and its opportunities. I am ready for all the challenges that are ahead of me; if I can just make a difference in the world in some beneficial way, I will be satisfied.

http://mdcinc.org/our-approach/blog/12/no-limits-aspiring-beyond-your-reach