Alum Spotlight: Christy Erving
Christy LaShaun Erving is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Christy was a Conrad Intern in Years 2005 and 2007. While in the Conrad Program, Christy was employed by American Airlines Center, Human Resources Department (Summer 2005) and Area Health Education Center (AHEC) at the University of Texas, Southwestern (Summer 2007).
Christy has a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Sociology and Hispanic Studies from Rice University. She has a Master’s in Arts and PhD in Sociology and a Minor in Social Sciences Approaches to Health and Healing Systems.
Christy’s hobbies are singing, Zumba, and other dance cardio classes, taking long walks outside, being a Foodie.
Says Christy of the best advice she received while in the Program: “I really appreciated the emphasis on always looking professional. I recall a special seminar for women that discussed how to appropriately “dress for success”. Those tips remain with me, and I consider them in my professional life today”.
When asked “What did you learn from the Conrad Program that changed your life?”, Christy says:
“The Conrad Program offered me the opportunity to intern in two very positive and productive settings. The summer 2005 internship at American Airlines Center was my first college internship, and I received excellent mentorship from two of the directors at that particular site. The internship experience taught me to be responsible, maintain integrity, and develop interpersonal and technical skills that would be helpful for any future profession I decided to pursue. The summer 2007 internship was directly related to my current field of study (I’m a health researcher), so working at the Area Health Education Center at University of Texas, Southwestern provided a different perspective that enabled me to better understand my research on racial health disparities once I entered graduate school. Through that internship program, I developed a research paper focused on health issues among Latino elders, worked with an intervention program focused on decreasing childhood obesity in high poverty areas, and worked with high school students interested in pursuing the health professions. I greatly appreciate both summer internship experiences. For a full description of my job, see the following link: http://www.healthandsocietyscholars.org/thescholars/416641/16821/464672.
Christy’s words of advice for current Conrad Interns: “Give your summer internship your best effort, every single day. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Soak up as much knowledge as you can”.
