Greetings! My name is Kokou Efou and I’m a Junior at GSU majoring in Psychology with a minor in Computer Science. I chose this course because I wanted to try something new compared to the seminar-style courses I had typically taken before. I saw the service learning aspect as a way to learn in a new way and give back to a good cause! I’m a very curious person and love new perspectives, so this class seemed like the perfect fit for just that. Professionally, I hope to pursue a Master’s in Human Computer Interaction alongside a career in UX Research! Aside from my professional interests, I’m a big fan of reading, music, cooking, and thrifting. I’m very much a big music lover and personally play 3 instruments (guitar, drums, and piano), alongside volunteering with the audio/technical team with my church’s college ministry.

For this course, I will be volunteering with Concrete Jungle, which is quite close to campus and focused on nutrition and food access. As a current intern with our campus library’s research data services, we’ve hosted a class before concerning food insecurity and food deserts, so there was a connection in wanting to engage with more work along that line. Going back to the work that the concrete jungle focuses on, not only do they work with various community partners to distribute fresh produce, they have their own farm (Doghead farm) where they grow produce for the community. In addition, they work to host nutrition workshops to ensure that community members have the knowledge to lead healthy and nutritious lives.

With my time at Concrete Jungle, I hope to not only be able to assist in the organization’s more technical projects and work, but also gain a better understanding of how nonprofit organizations work to both serve their communities, and maintain operations. I’ve had experience working virtually with non-profit organizations before, but to be able to first-hand gain a better idea of day-to-day operations would not only give me more insight into what goes into this work, but also a greater appreciation for what I’m doing. Ultimately, I’m excited to serve and am hoping the best for these next few weeks.