Mia Fox '19 Gives Back to Gambier

By Amelia Yeager ‘20

Mia Fox ’19 got to know Knox County through her interactions with the local community as a Brown Family Environmental Center (BFEC) Summer Assistant. Now, as a BFEC Post-Baccalaureate Fellow, Fox is a working professional with a full-time job that lets her interact daily with the community she came to love as a Kenyon student. 

“It worked out perfectly, because I really like the people I work with,” Fox said, “And I love Gambier.” Helping to execute the center’s primary community outreach functions as a BFEC Summer Assistant after her junior year, Fox learned that its scope extends far beyond the Hill. “I got to know the Mount Vernon community very well,” she said. “The people here are nothing if not kind and generous.” During that summer, she connected with the Post-Baccalaureate Fellow at the time, who was “a great resource in deciding if the position was right for me.” Fox got to observe the position’s daily activities and big-picture plans, which helped her identify with the Post-Baccalaureate Fellow through their shared passion for the outdoors and investment in local education.

As a senior considering her post-graduate options, Fox elected to pursue her passion for environmental education and advocacy through the post-baccalaureate position. Her role joins her two Kenyon majors, English and biology, in a mixture of event planning, educational programming, and communication. “Every day on the job is different,” Fox said. “There could be anything from leading hikes to advertising programs.”

Part of the Post Baccalaureate Fellow’s duties is extending the BFEC’s outreach to Kenyon’s academic community. To that end, Fox collaborates with the student managers, faculty, and staff. “I have meetings every day,” she said, “and I also run the social media accounts and write the quarterly newsletter.” Fellows also venture into Knox County to deliver programming in retirement homes, schools, and community centers. “We’re always looking to better serve the people around us,” Fox said of her interactions with the Knox County community. The annual Fall Harvest Festival and the upcoming Earth Day event are also organized in part by the Post-Baccalaureate Fellow, providing valuable event-planning and outreach experience.

As the end of her post-baccalaureate position draws nearer, Fox is making plans to begin her first year of graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, where she’ll be studying environmental science. “What I’m really hoping to do is inspire a passion in others, whether that be through a nature center or an academic institution,” she said. “When you can get people to personally connect to a cause, that’s when they get excited about nature.” 

Fox hopes to inspire these connections in her future communities through hands-on educational programming and outreach events like those she organized as a Post-Baccalaureate Fellow. When she moves to Philadelphia, Fox will take with her the personal and professional experience she’s gained over this past year with the BFEC. “I matured a lot, in terms of communicating and functioning as a representative of an organization, and especially in how I approach the [Knox County] area. Kenyon students are very different from the Mount Vernon community, but I’ve come to realize we have way more similarities, and there’s willingness on both sides to work towards common goals.”

The BFEC is now accepting applications for a 2020-2021 Post-Baccalaureate Fellow. The most important part of the job, Fox advises interested seniors, is “being curious. Be willing to learn about being outdoors, local communities, and viewpoints that may differ from your own.” For those who would like to hear more about Fox’s experience, she will be hosting information sessions about the position on February 25th at 11:10 in Brandi Recital Hall and March 24th at 11:10 in Peirce Lounge. Seniors interested in the position can send an email of interest to Noelle Jordan at jordan2@kenyon.edu and apply via Handshake by March 31st. The Summer Assistant job, also listed on Handshake, is accepting applications until March 8th.

Looking for help with student employment or the post-grad job search? Schedule an appointment with the CDO through Handshake.