Service-learning trip helped alumni choose career path

Meet Temitope (Temi) Famodu (LAS ’14). Temi grew up in a suburb of St. Paul, Minn., and earned a degree in international studies with a minor in economics. She was deeply impacted by a service-learning trip she took as a freshman and sought out a service-oriented internship after she returned. She found one at GirlForward, a nonprofit organization that provides resources for adolescent girls who have been resettled as refugees in the United States. Today, she is its director of communications.

Could you please describe what you do as director of communications?

GirlForward is a young organization; it’s never had a director of communications before. I work on our development team and help share the GirlForward story with new and existing donors. I plan events, I recruit and schedule community sponsors to donate food for our meals, and I produce our annual appeal.

Everyone who is a part of the GirlForward community has a unique story: our interns, our mentors, our volunteers, our girls. I coordinate with our illustrator to identify these stories and find the best way to tell them. For example, we’ve shared stories on social media, published a collection of memoirs and even produced an illustrated booklet telling the story of one of our Syrian refugees.

How did DePaul prepare you for this position at GirlForward?

The most profound growth that I experienced at DePaul was undoubtedly through the work that I did through my international studies major. The program was very intentional about turning students’ perspectives completely upside-down and unlearning all that we thought we knew to be true about the world. I came away with the critical-thinking skills that have helped me navigate my post-college professional journey in a way I’d never imagined.

My work now includes conversations that might be controversial to some folks. DePaul helped me take on a more open and less-biased perspective when talking to people about immigration, national boundaries and refugees.

Did you participate in any service activities?

I participated in a service learning trip to Alabama during my freshman year. This was one of my first introductions to America’s violent racial history, something I was able to really escape learning about in my homogenous suburb during high school. This experience, and others at DePaul, spurred conversations and questions that led me to work in a career that allows me to address challenges that affect vulnerable communities in the U.S.

I see my work today as inextricably linked to my experiences at DePaul. Each opportunity that I had to feel uncomfortable has ultimately given me a chance to better understand what I can do, whether big or small, to make lasting change in this world.

How did DePaul’s Chicago location impact your academic experience and career potential?

DePaul’s location in Chicago completely shaped my academic experience. Coming from a suburb in Minnesota, I craved an experience that would provide me with the most diverse people and surroundings in the Midwest. I saw that at DePaul.

Each year that I’ve lived in Chicago, I’ve learned something new and important from the various communities in which I’ve worked. DePaul introduced me to different neighborhoods through classes and service groups.

Now, I find myself often in three distinctly different neighborhoods every day, soaking up the rich and important histories of each. I wouldn’t have had this unique experience at any other school.