Local College Student Joins Ledge Light Health District As Summer Public Health Intern

Each year, Ledge Light Health District selects a student with an interest in public health to participate in the Harry A. Watson public health summer internship program. This year, Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) student Alyssa Brochu, Montville, was selected to work with LLHD staff in the fields of health education, environmental health, communicable disease prevention and epidemiology.

Over the duration of the internship, Brochu will assist in various public health activities, including the inspection of day cares, pools, and restaurants, the promotion of health education, the inspection of complaints, water sampling, the studying of infectious disease, and more. The internship provides opportunities to explore the various careers associated with public health.

Brochu is an upcoming senior, majoring in public health at SCSU, who has long had an interest in helping her community.  As a high school student, she volunteered for the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, where she mentored a fifth grade student once a week. During her senior year of high school, she interned at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital, where she had the opportunity to shadow nurses and observe surgeries.  This is where her interest switched from nursing to public health because she saw how important prevention really was.

“When I met with staff members of Ledge Light Health District, first at a career fair at SCSU then in New London, I realized this would be the perfect opportunity for me to see what field of public health I would want to work in,” Brochu said.  “This internship will give me exposure to all fields of public health, specifically concentrating in health education, epidemiology and environmental.  Having this opportunity to work with LLHD will be one of the most rewarding experiences for my career in public health.”   

As a student in the School of Public Health, Brochu has consistently made the dean’s list and continues to make strides to do so in the future.  She was nominated by some of her professors to join the “National Society of Leadership and Success,” in which students attend various motivational talks, network with future employers and participate in community service activities.  In her spare time, Alyssa is an avid Bikram Yoga practitioner.  

The Harry A. Watson internship was established to honor the contributions of Harry Watson, a 1993 founding Board member of Ledge Light Health District who served as Board Chairperson and Vice Chairperson until elected Mayor of the Town of Groton. The internship aims to educate college students and counselors of excellent public health career opportunities.