Jake Burns
HDF Graduate
Jake Burns graduated May 2024 in the Human Development and Family Sciences program with a minor in Social Justice and Civic Responsibilities. Jake was awarded the “Excellence in HDF” recognition award in May 2024 for his hard work and amazing efforts in and out of the classroom.
“Be open in any regard. Whether it’s working with people and being open to their perspective, but also being open to different things that you can do with your HDF degree… I think that is a prevalent theme in this field, being open to change.”Jake Burns
What year are you?
I’m a senior in HDF with a minor in Social Justice and Civic Responsibilities.
Where are you from?
I’m from South Kingstown, RI. I actually grew up ten minutes from here.
Do you do any research or activities on campus?
I am an HDF Ambassador, and I just started that during Fall 2024. I go to campus events like Welcome Days, and I greet new students and try to get the word HDF out there. We would like to recruit more HDF majors or see if students want to do a double major with HDF.
Do you have any career aspirations or goals?
My goal is to be a high school counselor. I actually just had my orientation at Providence College for their School Counseling Program starting this summer. I’m planning on doing the program in two years, but some people do it over the course of three years. There’s part of me that wants to go further in my education, but I think I might end it at the Master’s because I would be satisfied with that.
What do you like most about the HDF program?
Oh my gosh, there’s so many things! First of all, the professors, the faculty. I was in two majors before Human Development and Family Science and the professors in the HDF department are some of the nicest professors I’ve ever had. They are very caring and so willing to work with you and relay information in a way that is easily understood and relevant. I also love learning about human development and learning how to help people, but I also think that the reason why I love HDF so much is because it helped me learn so much about myself. While you’re learning about human development, you recognize yourself in different aspects of development and personality.
What does having the award mean to you?
It was very validating for the HDF department and faculty to think of me for this award. I also have a close friend who also got the award this year, so it was cool being excited for the both of us – it amplified the occasion for us!
How did you hear about the HDF Program?
I was just reading through the catalog of URI’s available majors and at the time I just glazed over HDF. However, after a while I realized that I was really unsatisfied with what I was doing, and I went back to the catalog and came across HDF again. I was looking at the different concentrations that HDF offered and I saw that they offered a counseling and social services concentration area.
Any words of wisdom for undergraduate students in HDF?
Be open in any regard. Whether it’s working with people and being open to their perspective, but also being open to different things that you can do. You might go into HDF thinking that you might want to do one thing, but with the HDF internships you might discover that you like working with a different population or in a different setting that you didn’t think of before. I think that is a prevalent theme in this field— being open to change.