My name is Kate Schieferecke. This fall I will be a senior at Kansas State University studying Economics and minoring in Spanish. I am from Bennington, Kansas and come from a family with deep farming roots in Western Kansas. Throughout my youth, I was an active citizen in my community through 4-H. While attending KSU, I have expanded my worldview through meeting fellow students from all over the world and become a global citizen through engaging in an international development-focused student organization and living and teaching in Fernando de la Mora, Paraguay for the summer of 2017 through my university’s International Service Teams program.
I am passionate about improving communities through understanding the larger economic forces at play within them. I hope to use my career to revitalize economic activity in rural western Kansas communities. Additionally, I hope to foster a mindset of global citizenship within rural western Kansas communities through providing rural youth with environments that foster appreciation of diversity and inquisitiveness about how they can engage with the world as global citizens. I am excited to begin my Ogallala Commons internship in Garden City, Kansas, where I will be working with K-State Research and Extension to carry out a public health assessment of Gray County, Kansas. Additionally, I will work with the non-profit LiveWell Finney County by helping write grant applications and teaching a financial literacy course at their neighborhood learning center. I am grateful for the opportunity to engage with communities in Southwest Kansas as an Ogallala Commons intern.
