Jenna Gagnon

I am currently a Junior studying Resource Economics at UMass Amherst. I have been involved with a lot of philanthropic work, volunteering for animal shelters throughout my life, in addition to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). I began my initial work with NEDA shortly after my own eating disorder recovery. While coordinating the 20th Annual Western Massachusetts Leadership Conference at my high school, I decided that eating disorders was an extremely important topic to cover. I felt strongly about this being covered, especially given how "swept under the rug" the topic is in today's society. This turned out to be just the beginning of my work with NEDA, as I went on to coordinate a fundraising walk with them which raised $3000.

I feel like this is an important cause and chose to write about this passion in particular because to this day, there is still a certain stigma surrounding eating disorders. People still think that eating disorders are a choice, or an attention-seeking behavior, as opposed to an actual disease. I've lived through one, and I know many people who have lived through the disorder themselves. These people are always afraid to speak up in fear of this negative stigma, and so they often don't get the help they need. It is for these reasons that I chose to work with the National Eating Disorders Association.

I hope that in the future, I can volunteer for organizations such as NEDA as much as I can, and I am very interested in pursuing a career in finance or accounting for a non-profit company.