Student Highlight - Alexis Pope
Meet Alexis Pope a fourth-year student at California State University, Long Beach pursuing a major in Nutrition and Dietetics with a minor in Health Science. After earning her bachelor's degree in nutrition, she plans to pursue a master's in public health. From there she will continue her career in research in health equity. One fun fact about Alexis is that she is from Northern California and grew up in Sacramento before coming to CSULB.
For Alexis, CSULB was her top choice when applying to colleges. She was drawn to the campus’s diverse community and the affordability of staying local. Prior to coming to CSULB, she did a tour with the Student Orientation, Advising, and Registration (SOAR) program for transfer students. In addition, she attended Day at the Beach, where she instantly felt welcomed by the community and was able to find resources that aligned with her goals before the school year even began.
As a transfer student entering her third year at a new college, Alexis faced challenges in finding a community where she could connect with peers and faculty who shared her interests in her STEM major. With limited representation, she had to actively seek out relationships and mentors. Despite these challenges, Alexis worked hard to find the supportive community she now has. She joined the Honeys Dance Team, the Student Dietetic Association (SDA) and applied for an internship with the Latino Center of Community Health, which offers fellowships and internships for students interested in research. This opportunity opened Alexis' eyes to the many resources available on campus that she had struggled to find on her own. The center’s focus on people of color helped Alexis develop a sense of belonging and connection to the campus community.
At CSULB, Alexis is involved in a variety of organizations. She serves as a Research Assistant at the Latino Center of Community Health, where she takes on leadership in project management and outreach to educate families about disease prevention and healthy eating. As a Peer Navigator for the Basic Needs department, she supports students in finding resources related to housing, food, and employment. As a Cal Fresh Healthy Living Trainer, Alexis helps order ingredients for nutrient education classes and organizes tabling events focused on physical activity for students. She is also a Research Lead for the SmartFit Girls program, specifically for the "Black Girl Joy" physical activity study. In this role, she leads workshops on nutrition and physical activity aimed at young Black girls in the Long Beach Unified School District, helping to challenge the stigma that health is not culturally relevant in certain communities.
Since being on campus, Danielle Munoz-Channel, the Director of Basic Needs, has been Alexis’s biggest advocate. Alexis mentions that Danielle has provided her with numerous opportunities to branch out of her comfort zone. Their connection extends beyond campus, with Danielle recognizing Alexis’s passion for student research by taking her to conferences that align with her values and interests. Additionally, Dr. Garcia, from the Health Science department, has mentored Alexis at the Latino Center for Community Health. Dr. Garcia has been a co-author for a variety of Alexis’s research publications and has actively contributed to Alexis’s academic transition from community college. One of Alexis’s proudest achievements at CSULB is making a difference in the positions she holds. Looking back at her first year at CSULB, Alexis would have never expected herself to have all of these leadership positions. Therefore, she continues to ensure change in her involvements in each environment she is in.
Recently, Alexis came up with the idea to do a Black History Month tabling for Cal Fresh Healthy Living during the month of February. She found it important to showcase the cultural diversity on campus through serving food that Black students would see at home. By using Cal Fresh recipes, she decided on the idea of serving corn bread and black-eyed peas. Both of which are dishes that her grandmother would make around New Years, which are a tradition for these dishes to be viewed as good luck. She taught her team how to season the black-eyed peas and prepare the corn bread. Throughout the tabling, Alexis made sure students that received the food were educated on the acknowledgement and honoring the Black community on campus.
To Alexis, being a Black Scholar means contributing to the representation she wants to see for herself. When pursuing higher education, Alexis notes that it can be a struggle to maintain that motivation when there are not too many people that look like her in higher education. Being that representation for the younger generation allows those to be encouraged in similar roles, she stepped into herself. Alexis encourages students to utilize the Basic Needs office, as it acknowledges the diversity on campus and assures that all voices are heard.
