Blair Sundhausen, a senior at William Jewell this year, joined the education team this fall as a Pryor Leadership Fellow. We were thrilled to have Blair join us, learn about BikeWalkKC, and help with the delivery of the education programs! Blair shares her experience as a fellow in this blog post:
Blair gives BikeWalkKC two thumbs up!
“Being a student in the Nonprofit Leadership major at William Jewell College means internships. Personally, I’ve always been a fan of internships. They are the best way to get outside of the classroom, beyond the Powerpoints and lectures, and figure out what you want like and what you don’t like in your field of study. For me, it’s a sneak peak into a window of what a life in the nonprofit sector would look like.
My internship through BikeWalkKC gave me exactly that. A common phrase that has floated around my nonprofit classes is; “people who work in the nonprofit sector wear a lot of hats.” I experienced this first hand through this internship. I went to elementary schools and assisted in teaching the BLAST program (Bicycle Lesson and Safety Training). Working with the elementary school children was always the highlight of my week. Throughout the four session BLAST program, I saw kids who couldn’t ride a bicycle in the beginning gain the confidence and skills to ride alongside their peers.
I entered data collected from different education programs. I researched and communicated outreach for upcoming events, like International Walk to School Day. Through these diverse hands-on projects, I was able to test the waters of the “many hat” culture that makes up the nonprofit world.
Most inspiringly, I was able to work alongside exceptional mentors who kept me in the loop about education programs but also gave me just enough space to figure things out on my own. Something that I really admire about BikeWalkKC is the community of people who work in the office practice what they preach. A majority of the staff bike to the office from their homes. From what I could see, this isn’t just a day job for the staff, it’s a passion for the people of the Greater Kansas City area to engage in an active lifestyle every day. BikeWalkKC is doing incredible things for this city. From its advocacy in implementing new bike lanes downtown, to Handlebar Happy Hours, it’s been exciting to learn from people and an organization that genuinely cares about Kansas City and population it serves.”
Thanks for sharing your talent and passion with us, Blair! We wish you all the best!