Read About Olivia Schwartz’s Experience at Becky’s Fund

Being the programs and outreach intern at Becky’s Fund this semester has been an amazing and transformative experience. I never imagined coming into my internship the multitude of experience I would gain or the amount of personal growth I would see in myself, but I am ecstatic that these are the realities of my time at Becky’s Fund. I learned so much during my time at Becky’s Fund, not only about the issues of dating and domestic violence, but also about some of the more logistical, behind-the-scenes aspects of working at a non-profit organization. I also learned more about my own leadership abilities, as well as how I can improve upon them. I was able to learn so much about so many different things due largely to the fact that my work at Becky’s Fund was incredibly multi-faceted. I was charged with working on Becky’s Fund’s social media accounts, helping with volunteer outreach, helping to plan a Becoming Your Own Heroine workshop, planning and executing our large fundraising event at Gold Cup, composing educational articles and pamphlets, and other smaller-scale tasks.

I have been interested in the issues of dating and domestic violence, as well as women as victims of crime on a more general scale, since I took a class entitled, “Women, Crime, and Justice,” during my sophomore year at The University of Iowa. The issue stood out to me during this class as one that deserves more attention than it gets. It’s an issue that’s more pervasive in our society than many people realize, and in order to counter it we must make it more of public discussion than it currently is.

Although I do not know if working directly on the issue of domestic violence is in my future, I do know that this semester taught me that I have a crucial desire to better the world around me, whether via working on this issue, or any of the others that currently plague our society. I know that my newly improved sensitivity to victims, along with some of the knowledge I have gained this semester, will help me in achieving this goal. Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Becky’s Fund this semester, and I am truly grateful for having the opportunity to spend a few months working on such an important issue.