Community Engagement Scholar transforms passions into purposeful work
Alexandra Lee was just over a year old when she was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, a chronic condition marked by joint pain and inflammation.
Though her condition has shaped her life, it has not defined it.
Growing up in Hoboken, New Jersey, Lee was exposed to traditional and alternative health practitioners. From a young age, she knew she wanted to work in healthcare. Now a senior Exercise Science major with a minor in Health and Wellness, Lee joined the Community Engagement Scholars program as an incoming student.
“I really wanted to be involved in my college experience,” Lee said. “I had no idea it would lead me to making this entire portfolio.”
Lee has joined–and led–multiple student organizations, taught yoga classes at the Carpenter Sports Building, and studied abroad in South Africa. A one-semester class project with a local nonprofit became a multi-year commitment.
While the Community Engagement Scholars program requirements include practical involvement in addition to coursework, the work came naturally to Lee.
“You could join any organization or any sort of experience in your life,” said Lee. “But why do you stay in it and how do you make it meaningful?”
After graduation, Lee will begin an advanced degree in chiropractic medicine. Her service and studies have influenced her understanding of an aging population, illness, disability, hardship–and dignity.
As part of a course exploring chronic illness in America, Lee volunteered with Lori’s Hands, a community health service learning organization founded by then-undergraduate Sarah LaFave in 2009 as a UD student club. Student volunteers are paired with clients with chronic illness, performing small but impactful household activities that might otherwise limit the clients’ independence or well-being.
Lee was matched with Pam and her husband, Norman. “I really fell in love with them,” she said. Instead of going home that summer, Lee remained in Newark and picked up several additional clients.
“I have a really close relationship with my mom’s mother,” said Lee, “it’s my way of being with her, even though I’m not back in New Jersey.”
After two years of working with Lee, Pam passed away in May 2023, but Lee has continued to visit with Norman, and with other clients.
On paper, these service experiences are checklist items, but for students like Lee, they are transformative.
Certified as a yoga teacher while in high school, Lee joined the Yoga Club soon after starting at UD.
“I’m teaching it for free and I’m learning from [my students]. I’m adapting my teaching style,” said Lee.
During her study abroad experience in South Africa, Lee visited an after-school program in the underserved Kliptown neighborhood of Soweto, a rape intervention project in Mpumalanga, and an orphanage with locations in Cape Town and Pretoria.
“South Africa isn’t a place I would have traveled alone for the first time,” said Lee. “But it made me very grateful for my access to healthcare and my family. … My experience in South Africa has further enhanced my desire to give back.”
Lee hopes to bring her uncommon perspective to her practice as a chiropractor, adopting a holistic approach to health and wellness and providing discounted or free treatments to expand access to care.
“I learned how to turn my passions into something more,” said Lee, “which has worked out for me so far.”