I'm Jessica Edwards, and I'm a senior from Alexandria, Virginia in Pforzheimer House studying Computer Science with a secondary in Educational
Studies. During my time at Harvard, I have been a board member of Harvard College Faith and Action (HCFA), the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, and Women in Computer Science, served as a CS Peer Concentration Advisor and Teaching Fellow for CS182, and volunteered through PBHA programs as a Y2Y Homeless Shelter supervisor and a mentor for the Franklin Afterschool Enrichment Program (FASE). Post-grad, I will be working in Reston, Virginia as a software engineer at Microsoft.

For my final project, I wanted to reflect on my role as a co-Vice President of Harvard College Faith and Action (HCFA), the largest Christian organization on Harvard's campus, and explore how HCFA promotes inclusion, community, leadership, and service both within the fellowship and in the broader Harvard community. Before college, I regularly attended church and was a member of a Christian youth group, but I did not feel like I was encouraged or valued by the other youth at my church. Once coming to Harvard, my perception of community within Harvard College Faith and Action (HCFA), the largest Christian organization on Harvard's campus, has also been fluid. I joined the organization freshman fall and was overwhelmed with the communities available to me. While I participated in some of HCFA's programming, it wasn't until sophomore fall that I started to get more involved and feel a strong sense of community alongside other members. I'm so grateful that the HCFA community has helped me grow in my faith, allowed me to form fruitful, lasting, loving relationships, and developed me to be a stronger Christian leader as I’ve gone from being a freshman swamped with extracurriculars to a senior whose only main extracurricular during the COVID-19 pandemic has been serving on HCFA’s Executive Board. 

See my HCFA Member Spotlight!