Ethan, student of Eastern Mennonite University, recently completed a semester long internship at Christ House. His work with leading nutrition and wellness workshops with Kairos Members and conducting interviews to collect their stories has been so appreciated. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors and thank him for his commitment to this internship!
Hi everyone! I’m Ethan, a semester-long intern at Christ House. I’ve spent a little over three months doing interviews with many members of Kairos House, Christ House’s long-term residential program, as well as leading a nutrition and wellness workshop series. These experiences have deepened my understanding of lifestyle medicine, which I hope to research in a future career.
Part of Christ House’s motto is “Healing and Hope”, which I wouldn’t have fully understood without experiencing this place for myself. In my conversations with Kairos members, many of them have described how transformative of a place Christ House was for them. Everyone’s story is different, but a common thread is that Christ House offers the resources, space, and time for people to heal physically, mentally, relationally, and spiritually. One interview quote that stands out to me is “They’re gonna love you ‘till you love yourselves.” Every Kairos member I’ve talked with has emphasized the steadfast compassion at Christ House, something that I’ve seen myself and aspired to be a part of this semester.
As l learned more about Christ House this semester, I had to ask myself, “What can I offer this place?” I’ve spent most of college planning to go into scientific research, and have only recently decided to redirect into healthcare. I’m so glad that I settled on leading a nutrition workshop series as a goal of mine, it’s been such a joy to dive into. Much of my time is spent between conversation with Kairos residents about what they’d like to learn about in the next workshop, and reading up on food and nutrition literature to create my presentations. It’s very meaningful to me to see the guys that come week after week so engaged with what we’re talking about, and excited to implement new foods or recipes into their life.
I’ve also been lucky enough to participate in outside of work events with Christ House and Kairos members, such as watching A Christmas Carol at Ford’s Theater. Being able to connect with others outside of work has been a big part of building community here – I’ll miss the opportunity for excursions like that next semester.
I’m so thankful for this experience, I’ll never forget the lessons I learned here. I can only hope that I was able to give back as much as I was given.
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