Jill is a third-year student in communication, and she aspires to work for a non-profit organization that helps individuals understand and foster their mental health. The intersection between communication strategies and mental health have influenced how her understanding of impact has taken shape.
“Making impact in your community or even in an organization is just as important as changing the world. At that moment, the change you’re making could affect someone’s whole world.”
Jill has put her communication studies to work as the social media coordinator for the Steps to Leaps interns. She plays a key role in how the pillars are designed for and presented to students. While she has been successful at putting out content and facilitating events to teach her peers, she has also learned a lot along the way.
One way Jill has made a lasting impact at Purdue has been the development of a number of training modules now available on Brightspace for student or facilitator use. Her current modules include a well-being course that helps individuals reframe potentially harmful feelings of loneliness and an impact course that guides users in designing action plans for turning dreams into realities.
To share her redefined sense of impact, one of Jill’s upcoming Steps to Leaps modules will help students overcome anxieties about what counts as impact. By producing and sharing accessible content, she is able to share what she’s learned with a wide audience.
On campus, Jill puts theory to practice when it comes to making impact. She is currently treasurer of Purdue’s National Alliance for Mental Health, a member of the Mental Health Action Week Committee, and on the Student Basic Needs Coalition. She has also serves as a College of Liberal Arts Career Ambassador and secretary for the Liberal Arts Student Council .
The persistent pursuit of your goals, Jill reminds her peers, is all about knowing what is important to you.
“My advice for students in making impact is to take the time to envision what impact is to you. Use that to take your first small step towards your goals.”