Join us in welcoming Leo and Olivia — LAJF’s new social work interns! They’ll be supporting our programs, helping with camper selection, mental health for youth, and program inclusivity. Leo and Olivia are both current seniors at the New York University (NYU) Silver School of Social Work. We’re excited to have their unique experiences and perspectives on our team, so that we can continue to strengthen our program offerings and support for our participants.

Get to know Leo and Olivia — read our interview with them below!

Name: Leo Bukovsan

Pronouns: he/him/his

Hometown: Saint Paul, Minnesota

Current city: Brooklyn, New York

Education: Senior at NYU Silver School of Social Work

Favorite restaurant in New York: I have many fond memories of eating at Veselka in the East Village!

Favorite book: Running with Scissors - Augusten Burroughs

Favorite weekend activities: I love sitting and reading in parks when the weather is nice, and as it gets colder I love hanging out at board game cafes.

Name: Olivia Blore

Pronouns: she/her

Hometown: San Diego, CA

Current city: New York, New York

Education: Senior at NYU Silver School of Social Work

Favorite restaurant in New York: Right now, it’s AweSum DimSum

Favorite book: The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

Favorite weekend activities: Grabbing drinks with friends and seeing live music

Can you describe your studies?

Leo: I’m a senior at NYU’s Silver School of Social Work, and I recently completed my minor in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies. I have tailored most of my classes around adolescent crisis work, both within the mental health system and in the various ways that being a teen is difficult that isn’t related solely to mental health pathology.

Olivia: All of my classes this semester are in the Silver School of Social Work. Right now, I’m in a policies class, a course on direct practice and fieldwork, and I’m in an elective on film, literature, and mental health. I’ve taken a lot of courses under the CAMS minor (child and adolescent mental health studies) and have finished those minor requirements.

What made you interested in interning with LAJF?

Leo: As a teen, I attended a language immersion summer program, and then worked there in my very early adulthood prior to starting my bachelor’s degree. This program was central to my development as a teen and young adult, and being able to connect with everyone at the program, whether they were from my hometown or a different side of the world, was so groundbreaking for me. Hearing about LAJF’s program and seeing the similarities it has to the program I attended, I was immediately excited to work with the organization.

Olivia: I really like the mission of Camp Rising Sun and LAJF’s school programs. I didn’t go to many summer or enrichment camps as an adolescent but I know how impactful they can be on someone’s life, so I’d like to be a part of that process. Also, during the interview process with Helene and Laura, I felt such great energy from them and the team at LAJF that it made me want to work here.

Why do you think it’s important for young people to learn compassionate leadership skills?

Leo: Leadership seems to get put into this very inflexible box of the “traditional” types of leaders like politicians, CEOs, and other forward facing leadership roles. Leadership, however, looks very different in different parts of life. However, compassionate leadership skills are essential in every kind of leadership, regardless of whether someone is a political leader or community organizer, and understanding the importance of these skills at such an early part of life is invaluable.

Olivia: I think it’s important for young people to learn compassionate leadership skills because you never know what positions they may hold or what spaces they’re going to be operating in. Young people should be prepared to hold positions of power in the future and to be an effective leader, you need to be compassionate and understanding. I think the sooner traits like compassion are taught, the better a person, employee, or leader will turn out to be.

What do you hope to do post-graduation?

Leo: I eventually hope to pursue my Master’s in Social Work and work in crisis intervention settings for adolescents (residential treatment settings, inpatient settings, intensive outpatient settings, emergency rooms, etc.).

Olivia: I don’t have concrete post-graduation plans at the moment. I will be taking time off from school, so it will be a year or two before I go to graduate school. I’m still unsure where I want to work or with what population, so it’s hard to say right now.

What are you hoping to gain from your time with LAJF?

Olivia: I’m hoping to gain some real experience. I know that sounds very broad, but I feel like, for me, so far I’ve just learned a lot about social work and not actually had many opportunities to use that knowledge in real life. I think I’ll also gain a better understanding of how nonprofits work, which is helpful when considering what I want to do in the future.

Favorite place you’ve ever traveled?

Leo: I spent a few days in Bacharach, Germany, which is on the western side of the country on the Rhine, and it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve been able to see.

Olivia: One of my favorite trips I’ve taken was to Amsterdam. My friends and I went to the Keukenhof tulip festival and it was one of the prettiest places I’ve ever been to. I had a lot of fun in the city, too. We stayed in a hostel and met a lot of other young travelers.

What do you think is the impact of cross-cultural exchange and meeting people from other cultures?

Leo: As I have grown and progressed through life, I have always gained so much from fostering relationships with people who are not from the same background as myself or my family’s. Some of the best learning comes from simply speaking with people about themselves, and that is only amplified when both people are learning about a culture different from their own.

Olivia: I think there’s a huge, positive impact that happens as a result of cross-cultural exchange. A lot of ignorance I think stems from being stuck in bubbles where only one type of person or culture is present. For young people especially, meeting people from other cultures can lead to better problem-solving skills, improved adaptability, and more fulfilling friendships. It’s one of the things I love about LAJF and Camp Rising Sun — that adolescents are getting to meet and work with people different from themselves.

Do you have a cause that you’re passionate about?

Leo: One of the reasons I am going into medical social work is because there is so much clinical injustice in the United States and the world. There is incredible systemic oppression in the smallest settings like funding for community clinics to the largest like the domination of pharmaceutical companies in medical policy decision making.

Olivia: I’m passionate about a lot of things but women’s rights is probably one of the biggest causes for me. We have a lot to do in society until women have an equal seat at the table. Women, especially women of color and LGBTQIA+ women, are frequently silenced and not given the room to speak or to lead and that is something I want to change.

What is a hope you have for our society and world?

Leo: I hope for a more universal assumption that most people are leading with good intent. I feel that in most interpersonal and community situations, assuming malicious intent creates walls in communication that are incredibly difficult to take down. A person could be misguided or misunderstand the needs of the people they are around, but many of us come into our roles and relationships with good intentions, and recognizing that even if, or especially, when clashes happen, opens better communication and more thoughtful work.

Olivia: I want to see our world be a place where people’s bodily autonomy is not being threatened! It baffles me every day that we still need to fight for the right to govern our own bodies. My hope is one day this fight will no longer be necessary and access to things like gender-affirming surgery and abortions will be readily available.