Senior-year service learning supports career development

Undergraduate | Dec 22, 2017 | Dushinka Malhotra

Applying classroom learning to the real world is a common experience that Gabelli School students share. One way undergraduates do this is through Integrated Projects (IPs).

Haley Hauge, BS ’18, started off her senior year by taking it a step further: she not only honed her leadership skills but also helped the community through her service-learning IP.

Hauge and her group worked with the New York Foundling, an organization that provides services to children and families in need within the five boroughs and Puerto Rico. IP participants were specifically charged with exploring career-development opportunities for the young adults supported through the Foundling.

Hauge is no stranger to service, having been an intern or completed long-term projects for more than 10 nonprofit organizations during her time at Fordham. However, she says, “one of the biggest takeaways I had was understanding the necessity of simplifying a pitch and knowing your audience.” Because many companies were unfamiliar with what the Foundling does, the team had to be able to clearly communicate the message to prospective partners.

Hauge says the organizations they approached appreciated being offered the partnership opportunity, but many “did not have the capacity to engage at the level we were requesting.” Instead of being discouraged, Hauge views the feedback as helpful. “We were incredibly successful in seeing what potential exists and how the Foundling or future IP classes might best approach this in the future,” she says.

Looking to her own future, Hauge will use what she learned in her post-graduation position as a consulting analyst at Accenture, as well as in her role as a Fordham alumna. “I am eager to eventually be able to support the Foundling’s young-adult career-development programs with my personal connections,” she says.