Washington and Lee University
There are so many different aspects of poverty, and much of it overlaps. Here in school, we are constantly taught different subjects and almost stick with it to a decree of religious fervor, history subjects for history courses, political subjects for political courses, economic subjects for economic courses. There's a mindset that builds up with that kind of attitude, and it is nothing like that in the real world with real issues. The Shepherd Program, through being interdisciplinary, really breaks apart that mindset and shows you how all of these issues overlap and complicate each other.
When going through the course catalog my junior year to figure out what courses were left that I wanted to take, I noticed a fair number of them fit in with the Shepherd Program. I decided to check out the Poverty 101 course and it looked fascinating. I remembered reading a few articles about how women were often the ones who were most at a disadvantage when impoverished, so I felt it would be a good program to round out my knowledge on women and gender issues.
I was incensed when writing my capstone paper about the deals took place that changed the norm of breastfeeding to the norm of formula-doctors being pressured to push formula and bash breastfeeding in the earlier part of the century, different formula companies making cozy deals with WIC so that only their formula would be handed out to the participants of that state, general misadvertisement about how formula was better than breast milk early on, etc. So many lies, all for a profit.
Capstone Paper Topic: Low-Income Women and Barriers to Breastfeeding
Community Service at W&L:
• Lexington on Youth
• Nabors Service League
Other W&L Activities:
• Pan-Asian Association for Cultural Exchange