MY STORY:

• A nonprofit’s initiative to educate Utah about child abuse

MY BLOG:

Choosing to write about Prevent Child Abuse Utah was an easy decision for me because it is an organization that is so motivated to do good and I wanted to learn as much as I could about it. The way I discovered it was through my aunt, who does volunteer work for PCAU and Operation Underground Railroad.

Due to my aunt’s involvement in these organizations, she was able to put me in touch with the community outreach program administrator, Gwen Knight. Knight was kind enough to suggest a few other people whom I could interview. I believe they were great sources because they are heavily involved in the success of their respective programs and they also believe so strongly in PCAU. When speaking with them, I could tell that they were passionate about what they were doing.

The topic of child abuse is a sensitive topic and should not be taken lightly. At the same time, it is something that needs to be discussed due to the severity of its impact in Utah and everywhere else in the world. I tried to be empathetic and respectful of the things I learned through this process and while I can’t relate to anyone who has gone through something like child abuse, I know that there could be someone who reads my story who can. I wanted my story to be sympathetic toward them as well.

My sources were also great because they provided me with so much information. It was hard to narrow it down to just the specifics of the two programs I talked about, Parents as Teachers and teaching in schools. I felt like those were the two most important things I could write about because of their direct impact on the communities they work with.

This writing process was very interesting because it was the first time I have done something like this. Of course, I had a general idea of what I wanted to write about but I was constantly pulled in different directions after each interview.

PCAU has so many learning opportunities on the website. I would recommend to anyone interested in learning more about this organization to visit the website and take some of the online courses geared toward your age group.

It was a great opportunity learning more about Prevent Child Abuse Utah and I hope anyone who reads my story is able to understand the importance of what PCAU does here in Utah.

ABOUT ME:

I was born and raised in Sandy, Utah, five minutes away from a handful of hikes in the Wasatch mountains. Some of my passions include playing tennis, hiking and reading. I also love traveling and hope to go to Iceland and Switzerland one day.

I am currently a junior at the University of Utah studying communication. Choosing to earn my college education at the U was an easy decision for me because I love Salt Lake City, I have always wanted to be in the MUSS, and the campus is absolutely beautiful. It has been everything I dreamed to be able to study here.

While trying to decide on a major without any real idea of what career I would like to pursue after getting my bachelor’s degree, strategic communication stuck out to me and I have enjoyed it ever since. Learning how to write, speak and critically think better has been helpful and exciting.

As of right now, consistently trying new things and obtaining a wide variety of useful skills are two of my main focuses in hopes of stumbling on something that I would love to build a career out of.