University of Delaware Athletics
Alli Burns' Life Changing Internship
9/28/2022 2:30:00 PM | Rowing
Rob Knox
NEWARK, Del. – Alli Burns' life changed following a trip to Cape Town, South Africa this past summer.
The talented University of Delaware senior rower enjoyed an impactful internship experience working in adolescent inpatient psychology, visiting Kruger National Park with one of her teammates who lives in South Africa, appreciating the beauty of the country, and learning Xhosa dancing.
"This trip, similar to other traveling I have done in the past, has reinforced the love I have for experiencing other cultures," said Burns, who has been rowing for seven years. "Even though there is a lot of diversity in the United States, being able to get a first-hand experience with a completely different culture than my own is extremely rewarding and has enhanced my ability to value cultures other than my own.
"I did seven hours of observation a day, over the course of five group sessions with the residents at the clinic. I was able to talk with the adolescents between sessions and establish rapport and relationships with them, which was an incredibly rewarding experience."
Majoring in psychology and human services with a concentration in clinical services, Burns, a bundle of positive energy standing six feet tall, is one of the leaders for the Delaware rowing program. Among some of her career highlights on the water was helping her boat, the 2V8, finish second in the Colonial Athletic Association and beat Northeastern for the first time in program history. She also won a Blue Hen Service Award last year and was selected as the Most Inspirational of her team.
Those are terrific accomplishments, but Burns knows her biggest growth occurred outside of her comfort zone.
"This summer, I definitely learned independence skills for myself and through taking a leap of faith by showing up in a new country all alone," Burns said. "I am very used to the privilege I have living in the area that I do but being in a place where I stand out and need to be more conscious than I normally am, was a great situation for growth. I had to get used to not having my phone out when I was in public, taking an uber during an uber strike and get comfortable with something as simple as grocery shopping, but in another country."
For the Fairfax, Virginia native, the internship was one step toward her career goal of becoming a clinical psychologist.
"I have an interest in military psychology," Burns said. "I want to be able to provide support for soldiers as well as their families and work to reduce the disproportionately high suicide rate in this population. During my internship, I was working with young, vulnerable children and adolescents which is not something I am particularly used to, or comfortable with. I decided to take it on headfirst, and it ended up working out so well."
However, it was one conversation that helped Burns' confidence.
"In this conversation, my boss mentioned to me that kids are strong and incredibly resilient and that the things I would do, if they had good intent, would not negatively impact the children," Burns said. "Although this seems like an obvious thing to say, it was exactly what I needed to hear in that situation because I was then able to have the confidence to move forward in my work and form relationships with the children I was working with, which I think allowed for my work to be as impactful as it was."
"Being able to have the hands-on experience and direct conversations with the adolescents I was working with was such a rewarding experience because I saw first-hand how their lives were being shaped and impacted by the work of the occupational therapists and psychologists at the clinic."
Burns got an opportunity to see different species of animals during her visit to Kruger National Park, located in northeastern South Africa. It is one of Africa's largest game reserves featuring a high density of wild animals including lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and buffalos. She also transformed the trip into an opportunity where she learned names of several species of animals in their English and Afrikaans names.
Her culture series classes created an indelible memory for Burns.
"The Xhosa culture is one that is fairly prevalent in the Cape Town area," Burns said. "During this culture event, we had two girls come from a township to teach us how to dance in a way that they do to show respect to the elders in their communities. A township is a low-income area where the housing is much more condensed and people do not have access to the same resources that other communities in Cape Town do, so having these girls come to visit us was a very enlightening experience that I am so grateful for."
"Although the dancing stuck out to me the most, all of the culture series were very special because it allowed me to gain an appreciation for the people and the country that I would not have experienced if I was just traveling and doing typical tourist activities."
Now Burns, who loves cooking and baking, is excited to use those experiences to have a standout senior season in and out of the water. Burns appreciates watching the rising sun glisten off the crisp and chilly water as the Blue Hens prepare for practice along the Wilmington riverfront, a 20-minute drive from campus.
It's a moment of serenity for Burns, who floats through life with grace and gratitude. Returning from South Africa with an enhanced purpose, Burns knows the courage, confidence, and energy she strengthened this past summer will serve as the foundation for future success.
She realizes that time is a gift. Her immediate goal is to savor each moment.
Burns learned something from each person she met with – whether it was the uber driver, kids she worked with, or random strangers, during her internship.
"Everyone has a story to share, and everyone is living in such a unique and beautiful situation that it offers so much to learn every moment of every day," Burns said. "I know it sounds very cliche, but I do believe it is true and the simple people that I had small encounters with were some of the most impactful, and I think that is a very special thing to be able to experience."
Rob Knox is an award-winning professional. A member of the Lincoln (Pa.) Hall of Fame, Knox currently serves as the Senior Director of Strategic Communications for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Knox enjoyed a distinguished career as an athletics communicator for Lincoln, Kutztown, Coppin State, Towson, and UNC Greensboro. He also worked at ESPN and for the Delaware County Daily Times. Recently, Knox was honored by the NCAA with its Champion of Diversity award. Knox is a graduate of Lincoln University and a past president of the College Sports Information Directors Association of America (CoSIDA).
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