By: Emma Fantuzzo
Breyonna’s Background:
Most people associate Service and Conservation Corps with outdoor work, manual labor, and conservation. Breyonna Conner, a student at Newman University and the first member of her family to not only graduate high school (at the age of fifteen nonetheless), but also attend college – thinks differently. For Breyonna, her Corps experience with Tabitha Corps Chester allowed her to explore her passion for the medical field and gave her valuable hands-on experiences that she believes can be applied to any profession.
Breyonna grew up in Chester, PA. Ever since she was a kid she has been interested in medicine.
“I would always read medical books and watch medical shows…I really wanted to go into the medical field,” she says.
During her second year of college, while studying Biology Pre-Medicine and Spanish, Breyonna learned about Tabitha Corps Chester when the Corps handed out fliers in her neighborhood.
“I decided to join, just to try something new.”
Corps Experience:
Breyonna’s Corps term was her first job experience. While the work focused on green infrastructure, stormwater maintenance, and community clean-ups, Breyonna notes that her biggest take-aways were job readiness, resume writing, teamwork, and workforce development.
Breyonna worked with the Chester Asthma Prevention Program to help clean up neighborhoods that were at high risk for asthma due to illegal dumping and pollution.
“We cleaned up these areas in hopes that asthma rates would go down but to also help our community, protect the environment, and improve the quality of life for local residents.”
Breyonna speaks of the gratitude of the people living in the areas she helped to clean and how touched she was to be able to contribute.
“The happiness that you get from seeing the work that you’ve done make a positive impact in the city is very rewarding,” she said.
Breyonna mentioned a particularly impactful project, “When we first arrived at the clean-up site, there were no kids playing on the playground because there was trash and drugs everywhere. After we cleaned up the playground, for the next two days that we came back, we saw all the kids in the neighborhood playing on the playground.”
As a result of her Corps term, Breyonna was able to apply for an internship and scholarship at one of Tabitha Corps Chester partners, Monroe Energy. The internship was medically focused and allowed Breyonna to work with a nurse practitioner.
She says, “This was a good experience that allowed to me to see if I enjoyed working in the medical field and also helped me figure out what specialty I would like to pursue.”
Breyonna is also currently working on a research study with two Doctors, focusing on neurological diseases. This was also an opportunity that stemmed from participating in Tabitha Corps Chester.
Looking Forward:
In the future, Breyonna dreams of creating her own Corps program with a medical focus. She wants to help students explore the medical field and its many different facets while gaining hands on experience, like she was able to do with Tabitha Corps.
Breyonna plans to attend medical school and would like to become an emergency room physician.
She believes that Corps can help youth step outside their comfort zone.
“Even if you aren’t going into something specifically geared to green infrastructure, the skills that you learn can be applied anywhere, not just to that specific field.”
