Tag Archives: Tillamook County

Juntos left an impact on me, now I’m an OSU Extension intern

Posted on by | Leave a reply

Hello! 

My name is Crystal Hernandez, and I am a student intern for the OSU Extension office in Tillamook County. I am from Tillamook, where I spend my free time jogging around town, playing soccer, or getting ready for college. I recently graduated from Tillamook High School and will be enrolled in both Oregon State University and Linn-Benton Community College this fall. I am undecided as to what I want to pursue but I have always been interested in the medical field.   

I love spending time with my family but getting our schedules to line up has become a challenge because of our jobs. My parents have taught me the value of working for what you have and are a great example of it by working long hours, five to six days a week. Seeing how they work to provide a better opportunity for my brother and I has made me appreciate the position that I am in and motivated me to work harder.  

I am excited for this internship position especially because OSU Extension Service has already had an impact in my life. I was part of the Juntos program in sixth grade, and my brother was in high school, when my parents were able to become informed about the process of going to a university. I remember visiting the OSU campus in Corvallis where I got to learn about student life and thought about how far away I was from the day I’d go to college. I then joined Juntos once again my senior year of high school and was able to fully grasp the purpose of the club. Our main focus was our identity project that we then presented to the Tillamook County commissioners. I thought about what being Latina meant to me for the first time and continued to learn about my culture. 

Now as an intern I get to work under the supervision of Megan Deane McKenna, Dusti Linnell, and work closely with Juntos coordinator Natalie Macias. I will help prepare for the Juntos Afuera camp and plan family nights for Spanish speakers in the county. I will lead activities in the camp as well as create social media posts. During my internship I will also explore different career opportunities and join Dusti in health-related meetings. I am excited to learn how extension has impacted our communities and have the opportunity to plan activities in the Juntos Afuera camp. 

Extension exceeded my expectatations

Posted on by | Leave a reply

Kasey Purcell recently completed an internship in the OSU Extension office in Tillamook County.

When I began this internship, I didn’t know what to expect. After just finishing my freshmen year of college, and dealing with the struggles COVID threw into the mix, I was eager to work on something that would grasp my full attention. These unprecedented times left me with a lot of anxiety for what the future might hold and I didn’t want that to keep me from working my hardest.

When I finally came to the realization that my internship would not be a normal one, I was a little upset but ready for the challenge. I began with an open mind and no expectations, and I think in the end that was the smartest thing to do.

With this mindset, I was prepared to work on whatever was thrown my way, even if it was outside my wheelhouse. I created two resource guides for Tillamook and Lincoln counties. I created and published/will soon publish six blogs about my time in this internship and nutrition-related topics. I sat in on a wide variety of meetings throughout my 10 weeks. I lent a hand by creating resources for Tillamook County Wellness’s newest campaign. I wrote social media postings, created guides to events and most of all, I learned the true value of Extension Service.

Every aspect of Extension’s work focuses on the education and growth of the agricultural industries in our state. In Tillamook County particularly, I was able to watch how Extension worked to bring inclusivity and new ideas to the health and wellness teams in our community. Going into this internship, I knew nothing about Extension Service. But coming out, I am so thankful for this opportunity. OSU Extension truly has a great mission, and they have yet to stray from it, even after 109 years!

As I make my way back to the University of Hawaii at Manoa for my sophomore year, I hope to take with me these values of education, inclusivity, and being open to new ideas. This time working with Extension, and my supervisor, really showed me what it is like to work in community nutrition. There is so much more to it than creating wellness plans to help a community grow and that was evident to me. I worked on such a diverse range of projects and with people with so many different backgrounds.

I want to thank OSU Extension, my supervisor Dusti Linnell, and all of the community partners I’ve worked with this summer for this opportunity. It truly was a one-of-a-kind experience, and not just because I was able to work in my PJs all day.

Aloha!

Extension provides education to everyone

Posted on by | Leave a reply

Kasey Purcell is an intern in the OSU Extension office in Tillamook County.

I began my internship at the end of May and I’ve really enjoyed both working with the health professionals in my county and experiencing what it is like to build community outreach programs.

I’ve been able to work with the Tillamook County Wellness Coalition on a few projects, one of which was to create content to go along with an initiative to encourage the people in our community to go outside and explore our local parks and trails. I’ve also had the opportunity to work alongside my supervisor, Dusti Linnell, on an opioid prevention team as well as a COVID outreach team. Through these teams I’ve been working to find resources already available in our county to help those in need.

At the start of my internship we were all pretty sad that I would be working from home for the next 10 weeks. I was excited and looking forward to the face-to-face interactions and experience what it is like working in an office.

While I’ve been unable to experience that, I had an opportunity in late May to go to the Tillamook Extension office and meet everyone when the office was a distribution point for free personal protective equipment for the farmers and fishermen in our community. I was only there for a few hours, but during that time I was able to meet all of the people I had been Zooming with for the past few weeks. It was nice to have those interactions, even if we were wearing face masks.

In late May, the OSu Extension office in Tillamook was a distribution point for personal protective equipment for the agricultural and fishing industries.
In late May, the OSu Extension office in Tillamook was a distribution point for personal protective equipment for the agricultural and fishing industries. Photo by Kasey Purcell.

Through my work so far, my eyes have been opened to the mission of the Extension Service. Growing up, I didn’t participate much in Extension programs. I did a few art and photography classes through 4-H, but that is all. So, I didn’t really know the mission of OSU’s Extension Service. During the first few weeks I learned that the goal of Extension is to provide education to everyone, with the intention of opening the minds of rural areas in Oregon to the growth that is happening in their agricultural fields.

At the beginning of my internship my supervisor asked me to write a short paper about what the history of Extension and I was amazed. Not only did it bring innovation to rural communities ages ago, but it continues to hold true to its mission today. Through all of the work I have done alongside Dusti, I constantly see how those working in Extension strive to bring new knowledge through education. For example, through my work creating a resource guide for the opioid prevention team Dusti and I talked about how this guide is a resource for everyone, so any business is welcome to it and they have the ability to make it their own.

I have really come to appreciate what Extension Service is and I feel so lucky to be able to work with such awesome people who are constantly striving to bring new and helpful knowledge to our communities.