In the Service of Learning: Karen Trang '14

She may not think of herself as a role model, but Karen Trang is a student who exemplifies the Saint Mary’s College tradition of service learning.

For the past two years, Trang has volunteered as the co-coordinator of SMC’s Peer Health Exchange (PHE), a national program that trains college students to teach comprehensive health curriculum in public high schools where students live at or below the poverty line. Volunteer instructors like Trang fill in where public education budgets have been slashed, first evaluating students’ baseline knowledge before delving into health topics most relevant for teens: healthy relationships, mental health, nutrition, drugs and alcohol. With a young, relatable teacher up front, 96 percent of PHE-taught 9th graders report that they’ll use something they learned from the classes.

Inspired by the social justice themes in her English Honors class, biochemistry major Trang first joined PHE as a freshman to give back to the local community and campus. “It’s great to be a part of the mentorship community at Saint Mary’s,” she said of managing 40–50 program volunteers. Teaching every Friday has helped improve her public speaking skills and comfort working in the classroom setting. All told, she commits about 15 hours a week to PHE — and that’s in addition to a full academic course load and 12 hours per week in the chem lab.

Though a potentially tricky topic, Trang says that sexual assault is one of most rewarding subjects she covers as a program instructor. “It may be the first and only time students discuss the issue,” she explained, noting that sexual violence isn’t often talked about at the high school level. As she considers a future in medicine, her proven ability to convey sensitive information to diverse groups of people will be just as critical as her ability to diagnose symptoms.