Youth leadership program motivates student to publish research in Canyon Journal

When sophomore Harmony Jenkins saw Grand Canyon University’s Honors College was offering a writing course, she thought it would be a perfect opportunity to develop personal writing skills.

She was surprised to find out it was an academic journal writing class geared for students interested in composing manuscripts for the university’s Canyon Journal of Undergraduate Research, its new issue published at the end of June.

“I didn’t even know we had a journal,” Jenkins said. “When I saw there was a writing class, I didn’t know what it was going to be about, but I needed the Honors credit and I love writing, so I joined.

“I thought it would be really cool to get published as an undergraduate student. I am a social work major and would love to get my master’s straight after I graduate, so this would be really good for graduate school applications.”

Harmony Jenkins' research manuscript will be published in the next issue of Canyon Journal of Undergraduate Research.

The first issue of the multidisciplinary journal debuted in summer of 2023. It is designed for students to receive mentorship in academic research and explore inventive and revolutionary ideas rooted in the academic, professional or personal setting.

"This journal was started to give undergraduate students meaningful experience with academic publishing," Honors College Academic Program Manager Katalina Inzunza Herrera said. "It's a chance for students to grow as scholars, strengthen their graduate school applications and build skills that will serve them in research and non-research focused careers."

Jenkins’ piece in the new issue, “Developing Community Leaders: A Reflection on the Motivating Factors Behind Prosocial and Altruistic Behavior in Adolescents,” was inspired by a memorable childhood experience attending Juntos, a youth leadership program, every summer before returning to volunteer as a leader.

Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the year-round program hosts Bible studies, mentoring and tutoring sessions and summer Bible school for elementary and middle school students.

“I grew up in the program alongside of all other students from fourth grade until graduating eighth grade,” Jenkins said. “Later I started volunteering with those same people, and when we did the summer kids club in 2024 I was surprised to find out most of the volunteers were going through some really hard personal things but still took a week out of their summers to volunteer.”

The summer camp overflowed with interactive activities, fun games, Bible studies, workshops, and more. After the kids went home in the afternoon, volunteers held meetings to debrief their days, review what went well and what could’ve been done better, while living on the campgrounds for the entire week, Jenkins said.

One thing I love about GCU is that I can talk about the role faith played in this in a formal academic setting. ... Even this paper was an opportunity to honor God because He was in the center of it all.

Harmony Jenkins, social work sophomore

“It’s a really intense week and I was just surprised a lot of the volunteers would do that while going through things like severe a mental health crisis, grieving, loss of people they were close to, big life transitions and more.”

Intrigued by their perseverance, Jenkins was curious to discover the reason behind their choice to volunteer and became motivated to research and write about it.

Her manuscript focuses on four key reasons behind young adults choosing to volunteer at Juntos: organizational stewardship, organizational leadership, prosocial personality and religious moral foundation.

Some feel nostalgia toward the program and long to recreate the same memories for new students, while others simply enjoy the wholesome community experienced when volunteering and socializing with new people. Most commonly, they feel it is their religious mission and responsibility to pass on their knowledge of the Bible and fulfill a God-given purpose.

Harmony Jenkins took an academic writing course to learn about research writing and prepare her manuscript for publication.

“I live in an international district in Albuquerque which is a neighborhood highest in crime rates and poverty in the city. This paper speaks to how instead of coming into neighborhoods like mine with ideas to bring people from outside to make a change and treat it like a project, the more impactful way to make a change in a neighborhood is to develop leaders from within.

“One thing I love about GCU is that I can talk about the role faith played in this in a formal academic setting and I really appreciate that because that is a huge part of what my experience was. I think even this paper was an opportunity to honor God because He was in the center of all it.”

Other student and alumni authors in the new Canyon Journal of Undergraduate Research are:

Noah Larson: “Undergraduate Guide for Reflective Practice”

Allison Rogers, Elise Ahrens, Allyson Wagner, Lilly Revell and Sedina Hayes: “Moving Towards Presence: How Dance/Movement Therapy Could Repair Derealization/Depersonalization Disorder Symptomatology at the Neurobiological Level”

Collin O’Reilly, Brynn E. Brunswig, Megan McConnell, Piper R. Necaise and Sedina Hayes: “Accommodations for Neurodivergent Students: Individualization and How to Implement Individualization in the Classroom”

Mackenzie Purdy: "The Invisible Workforce: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Labor Trafficking”

Benjamin Carter: “Deepfake Detection Via Facial Feature Extraction and Modeling”

Kobe Lage, Dillon McGuckin, Addie Gjelsten, Brianna VandeWeg, Cierra Baca, Natalie Logan and Tatiana Calicich: “Job Stress and Career Performance”

GCU staff writer Izabela Fogarasi can be reached at Izabela.Fogarasi@gcu.edu

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