I had always planned to start doing research in the summer of 2023, however, It wasn’t until January that I decided that I didn’t want to do things the traditional way. I had spent a lot of time contemplating what I wanted to do. I wanted an experience that would allow me to impact my community and to contribute to a project that's dedicated to making change. This past summer through the UHP Discover program I was paired with Dr. Lauren Forbes of the School of Public and International Affairs on two Community Development Projects. The first project, Understanding the Community Capacity for a Local Justice Centered Food System, was started to combat the lack of fresh food access in underserved communities. It gave me the ability to directly interact with organizations in underserved neighborhoods and survey them while garnering partnerships with them to benefit the project. The second project, Peaceful Solutions, was started to combat the disparities in suspension and expulsion in schools. It Allowed me to handle and organize suspension and expulsion data from various schools in the city for easy assessment. I enjoyed being able to work on projects that dealt with things I am interested in.