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Hi! I’m Marisa Paipongna and I’m very excited to be the new Field Outreach Assistant at the Afterschool Alliance.
I became interested in the Afterschool Alliance due to my own afterschool experiences. Upon entering high school, I knew that I wanted to go to college but because I was a first-generation college student, navigating that pathway was fairly unclear. I heard my teachers emphasize the importance of being engaged outside of the classroom, so I decided to join an afterschool community service organization. That experience not only made me realize this passion I had for helping the communities around me, but it also opened my eyes to the fact that I could actually pursue this passion in college.
The values that I had gained and my motivation to positively impact communities only grew throughout my time in college, both inside and outside of the classroom. I recently graduated from the College of William & Mary with a B.S. in Kinesiology with a Concentration in Public Health, and a minor in Sociology. Throughout college, I served as a Health Outreach Peer Educator, creating and facilitating health programs for students throughout my campus. I interned at the USDA Rural Development California State Office in Davis, Calif. and also interned at the School Health Initiative Program throughout Williamsburg-James City County elementary schools in Williamsburg, Va.
While my degree and many of my experiences are related to health, I am passionate about pursuing efforts regarding afterschool programs because of the strong correlation that exists between education and health outcomes. As the Field Outreach Assistant, I will work closely with the Field Outreach team in recruiting and providing assistance to AmeriCorps VISTA members working on afterschool programs throughout the country!
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