Fellow Update: Andersen

Andersen is part of the Gold Country Fellow Team. He is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health at UC Davis. Read about his project below.

“There is a growing concern of high smoking rates among international students on smoke-free campuses across the nation. Though the research on this topic may be limited, there is a need to address strategies that will engage this population with the campus smoke tobacco-free policy and tobacco cessation resources. This year-long project comprises three phases: outreach, data collection, and an adaption of a communication plan. In the outreach phase, we started marketing language-specific tobacco quitline advertisements in Chinese and Korean to new students at events on campus. During the data collection phase, we will be conducting focus groups with international students and international-related community stakeholders to gather information about health messages, strategies, and channels to effectively reach this population. Finally, we will use the data to develop tobacco prevention- communication materials and strategies in preparation for the next school year or for future campaign efforts.”

Fellow Update: Alana

Alana is part of the Southern California Students Fellow Team. In September, she shared tobacco education resources at PIFA – the Pacific Islander Festival.

“PIFA is the largest and longest running Pacific Islander Festival on the mainland. This past year was it’s 25th anniversary and we welcomed more than 20,000 people. It takes place every year at Ski Beach in San Diego, CA and is held on the third weekend of September. My role for PIFA is Miss Pacific Islander of San Diego First Princess. Throughout the year I act as PIFA’s ambassador and take part in many community events throughout the year promoting PIFA’s message to promote, preserve, and perpetuate the cultures of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. Through this role I also created my own community project called “Sincerely, Alana.” I’ve been working on this channel and website for two years now and my mission is to educate youth about social issues, promote confidence, and provide resources – www.sincerelyalana.org. I’ve mentioned APPEAL and SPARC in multiple places on my website and have actually gotten a few people who have reached out and talked to me about applying for the next fellowship opportunity.”