Reflection and Responsibilities
10/03/2025
Daugherty interned with Bread for the City, an organization providing comprehensive care for low-income families through food, clothing, social services and legal assistance.
Reflections and New Responsibilities During Summer Internship
This past summer, Logan Daugherty ’27, a biology and chemistry double major from Bradford, Ohio, took part in the EMU Washington Semester program, gaining hands-on experience in a nonprofit medical clinic.
Daugherty interned with Bread for the City, an organization providing comprehensive care for low-income families through food, clothing, social services and legal assistance. “As part of my internship, I was on the referral team. We would receive referrals from the primary care doctors there and help the patients get scheduled and seen in D.C.,” Daugherty explained.
He enjoyed the contrasting city of D.C. to rural Ohio, noting the fast pace and liveliness. “I really liked the busyness and the bustle of the city. D.C. is really interesting,” he said. “You don't realize how much not having skyscrapers makes the city feel different.”
Daugherty received a Bluffton Summer Discovery Grant, providing support for this two-month cross-cultural experience. “I knew going into it that this was going to be one of the more expensive cross-cultural experiences,” he stated. “Getting that grant made me more confident in my decision to pursue that experience.”
In addition to the internship, students took two classes through the program. Career, Culture and Community, Daugherty explained, focused on resume building, networking, and making career connections. Race, Space, and Inequality explored deeper topics such as gentrification and the effects of urban development on communities. “Even just building a metro station can raise property values and cause a lot of people to have to leave their homes because they can't afford them anymore. It made me think about things more in depth than I ever had before,” Daugherty said.
Looking ahead, Daugherty plans to take a gap year before attending medical school after graduation. “I think I am going to do a gap year to get a little bit more clinical experience,” he explained. “I'd never really considered doing nonprofit work, and now I almost can't imagine working at a for-profit hospital.”
Beyond career clarity, Daugherty gained insight into the realities of patient care and nonprofit work. “It really highlighted a lot of issues with not only the medical field, but also nonprofit work right now,” he said. Daugherty noted the challenges patients faced with scheduling delays, “Sometimes I would be the one to have to break the news to them on the phone about that. It was kind of disheartening,” Daugherty said, reflecting thoughtfully on the experience.
Although the experience offered challenges and reflection on larger issues, it also gave Daugherty the chance to experience more personal responsibility. “We were responsible for cooking all of our meals and making sure the house stayed clean,” Daugherty reflected. “I never cooked nearly as much as I did living in the house, but I found out that I really like cooking.”
Overall, the summer in D.C. provided Daugherty with both professional experience and personal growth. “I was living more adult than I think I ever have,” he laughed. “It made me feel more confident for when I leave Bluffton and ‘becoming an adult.’”