Want More? See the Latest HSPH Office of Diversity Blog

My time at HSPH may have finished, but the adventure continues for many other students. Check out http://www.officeofdiversityhsph.blogspot.com/ for stories from the 2011-2012 academic year!

Last Week of School!!

So, I really have no business blogging at this moment, but something was just sent to me that really sums up experience at grad school (no Hah-vahd exceptions here!). Credit goes to Molly Labell, who wrote this column in the May 6, 2011 entry in Thought Catalog. I'm copying the article here, but also see the original website: http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/in-graduate-school-you-will/

"In Graduate School You will..." 

MAY. 6, 2011 

By MOLLY LABELL 

Feel Stressed: There will be a million things to do.

Feel Bored: There will literally be nothing to do.

Live on the Undergraduate Residence Campus: You will be too unorganized and lazy to figure out an alternative living situation. You’ll live on the fifth floor of the freshman wellness dorm with ten other grad students. You’ll only meet one other girl on your floor the entire 5 months you spend there. She will have the same name as you and one time borrow your scissors. The whole dorm will be infested with mice in the winter. You will find mouse poop in your moccasins and freak the fuck out and sleep at your friend’s apartment for three days.

Take Notes: You will get a job taking notes for the Center for Academic Achievement for undergrad classes. You will be excited that your great note-taking skills and quirky handwriting will finally pay off.  You will realize you only make $24 a week and be less excited. You will sit in a Nutrition class twice a week and watch freshman give PowerPoints on dietary supplements. You will write things in the margins of the notes—you’ll draw an arrow to the date and write “Friday! Friday! Gotta get down on Friday!” You will write “Beer before liquor, never been sicker!” on the day the class is learning about alcohol consumption.

Keep Odd Hours: Your only classes meet Monday and Tuesday at 3:30 and 6:30, so on those days you will stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning and sleep until 10 or 11. In the morning, you will wake up and look at the clock and be shocked, for some reason. You’ll say “What’s wrong with me?” to your stuffed animal and then watch episodes of, like, House Hunters online in bed until noon.

Feel Overwhelmed by Very Small Tasks: Your days will be so unstructured that when you finally have something to do in addition to reading and writing, it’ll feel like the biggest event ever. On a day when you don’t have class, you’ll decide to finally go to the post office to buy stamps. You will plan your entire day around this errand. When something else comes up—a Professor asks you to meet with them that day instead of the next, as planned—you will panic silently. You will be able to do this. Believe in yourself! You will be able to run your 15 minute errand and make it to your meeting, 4 hours later, on time and prepared.

Find Weird Things Really Funny: You will hang out with friends from class and make jokes about interrupting a hegemonic discourse and queering the space. You will leave each other Facebook comments like “I’m totes gonna queer this EZ-Mac right now ROFL.” You will discuss hypotheticals—what if we did an interpretive dance for our final presentations? What if we didn’t write this paper because words are arbitrary? You will laugh hysterically about all of these things.

Not Eat Regularly: You will be broke and your stomach will hurt too much to have normal eating patterns. The pants that you couldn’t breathe in when you were eighteen? They’ll be loose on you. Your dad will call and ask what you ate that day. Your mom will send you $40 with a note that says “You are only allowed to spend this on dinner in a nice restaurant. Do not spend this at Forever 21. Please get something with protein! Buying calcium supplements: okay, too. XOXO.” You will become anemic. Sometimes you’ll go to your aunt and uncle’s for dinner and you’ll eat and eat like you haven’t eaten in years. They’ll send you home with leftovers and apples and bottles of Voss and you’ll feel your body thanking you when you eat them the next day.

Feel Smart: Not smarter than anyone else, mind you, but smart in general. You will stare at your computer screen when writing your final papers and feel a headache building as you see the tight knots in theories you’re trying to unwind and the limits they’re restrained in. You will realize that you actually understand some of this stuff and feel ever so slightly proud that you do.

Feel Dumb: Not dumber than anyone else, mind you, but dumb in general. You will constantly wonder if there’s something you’re just not getting when doing your reading. You will become shyer than ever about talking in class. You will have no original or interesting comments to make in class discussions and write down all the things your classmates say.

Become Overly Emotional: You will read Barthes’s “Camera Lucida” for one of your classes and actually go “mmmmm” while you read. You will stand in front of a Rothko at the MFA on a random Tuesday and feel your heart collapse inside of your chest. You will stand outside South Station with your best friend from college and your eyes will well up with tears when she tells you about the confidence she’s gained in her artwork.

Hate the Red Sox and Love the Yankees: You will live a few blocks away from Fenway. You will see a tubby fellow walking down Longwood Avenue one day wearing a Jeter jersey and Yankees hat and you will want to hug the shit outta him. You will not do this. You’re from New York; you know not to hug strangers!

Not Do Laundry Often: You will never have quarters. You will live five flights above the washing machines. One day you’ll lug your hamper down the five flights and realize you forgot the detergent. You’ll walk back upstairs and then back downstairs and realize you forgot quarters. You’ll walk up again, and then back down again, and then realize you are one quarter short. You will say fuck it! and leave your things in the laundry room, go back upstairs, and not come down again for three or maybe four hours.

Realize You Are Religious: You will finally understand that feminism is not unlike a religion in the sense that it consumes and shapes all of your views. You will be unable to evaluate your life and your friends and your relationships and the strangers around you without placing them within this context. You will want to grab strangers on the street and ask if they’ve heard the good word. You’ll want to yell corporeal prayer.

Be Absurdly Broke: You will turn down an invite to get drinks with a friend because you just don’t want to pay T fare. You will steal an economy size roll of toilet paper from the bathroom in your dorm because you don’t want to buy tissues.

Have Some Real Good Times: You will find $100 in the pocket of a pair of jeans in a consignment shop. You will decide to buy clothes from the store with it, and discover that everything you want to buy is 70% off. You will visit the museum where your aunt works and she’ll let you touch the objects. You will go to bars with your cousin and talk about your silly fun family. You’ll go to Cambridge with your friend and browse at the Coop and drink Pimm’s at dinner and go home feeling so lucky to have her in your life. You’ll go to a concert with your college friends in Brighton and their faces will all be painted and you’ll all be drunk and dancing and you’ll feel good.

Feel Like Everything is Beginning: You will talk on the phone with your friends scattered across the country. They all have real jobs or are starting grad school or are in serious relationships or are off on some grand adventure. Everyone will sound happy and you’ll remember the history you’ve had with these people and realize how you never knew that one day you’d be sitting on this bench wearing this coat in this city talking to themand you’ll realize that you have absolutely no idea what will happen next. You will not be worried. 

You should follow Thought Catalog on Twitter here

Guest Blogger: Khalidah, 2nd year, GHP (and opportunity to support HSPH alum)

Hi all! So it's been a bit of time, but we have another student post! This is from a fellow GHP SM2 candidate, Khalidah Bello, who is interested in...oh, I'm getting ahead of myself; she'll tell you about herself! She's also included some information and an awesome chance to support a recent HSPH alum in his recent initiative! It really shows the great things that HSPH students go on to do! Check it out below:


My name is Khalidah Bello, and I am a graduate Student at the Harvard School of Public Health's (HSPH) Global Health program. My research interests are broad and include infectious disease, mental health, reproductive health, along with nutrition as it relates to obesity. I am particularly interested in helping to alleviate health disparities in underrepresented groups.

My colleague and friend, physician,  Michael Schwandt shares a similar passion. Michael Schwandt is a physician that received his MPH degree at HSPH, last year, 2010. We met while taking a course on HIV epidemiology with a phenomenal lecturer at HSPH,  Dr. Daniel Halperin. Since then, Michael and I have been involved in academic work and social groups at HSPH. I have found him to be an intelligent individual who is passionate about infectious disease, and alleviating the health burden in disadvantaged communities both in North America, as well as internationally.

Michael has since returned to Toronto to complete residency and medical training at University of Toronto (affectionately known as the Harvard of the North).  I fully endorse Michael on his latest project to secure government funding so that he can tackle the global health problem of malaria in a creative fashion. 

See the details below for more information. But above all, please show your support for Michael's project, by clicking the thumbs up sign in the following link:  http://gcc.eyeptv.net/blog/2011/03/14/the-mouse-vs-malaria-crowdsourcing-for-disease-surveillance-in-low-income-countries/

The deadline for support is  April 29th

1 min, 50 seconds. Google. Research Funding. Your Thumbs Up of Approval.  Battling Malaria. 
And Assisting an HSPH alum. April 29 deadline
Caption: Michael, HSPH alum,  was active when in Boston and  finished first in a marathon called Halloween Superheroes 5-K Road Race 2010 to Benefit Cambridge Women’s Crisis Organization  (Michael is in the middle)
Credits -Cambridge TV- (http://www.cctvcambridge.org/_Superheroes_Race_in_Cambridge)

With five minutes of your time. Let's Show him the Longwood Medical community Supports its Grads!!!!!

A thumbs up from you, can help a Havard Alum tackle Malaria using Google!   It takes just five minutes.

Michael, Harvard grad, and resident doctor , now in Canada,  performed as "Jay Z" in the song  "Empire State of Mind" at Harvard's International Night 2010 last year, and now he is aiming to perform on Canada's Global Health stage.

Rally behind Michael Schwandt online, HSPH Alum 2010, and help him get selected as a Canadian Rising Star in Global Health! It is as easy as clicking the the thumbs up button on his video submission for global health funding by the Canadian government.

Michael Schwandt is an African Canadian, and aims to secure funding as Harvard's Canadian Rising star in Global Health, with an innovative idea to track infectious disease such as malaria using internet search engines such as google.

He simply needs support of individuals worldwide to hit the "thumbs up" button on his video submission to show support for his idea, if they agree of course. Video link:1 min 50 seconds.

•  http://gcc.eyeptv.net/blog/2011/03/14/the-mouse-vs-malaria-crowdsourcing-for-disease-surveillance-in-low-income-countries/

Support  him online! Have your friends do so too!  Click the thumbs up button. Share this email with friends to Support him too.

Public voting Makes a Large difference for the online video in grant application!!  Support him with the click of one button. It takes 5 minutes. Even less!

He was a good friend of mine, and is a great person,

Khalidah
SM2 candidate
2011
____________________________________________________________

Optional Additional Reading (More background info)Details on the Grant Below:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Short Proposal Description:

Michael's proposal is titled: "The Mouse vs Malaria," and in short he suggests that we can find clues about infectious diseases around the world by looking at what people are doing online -- much the same way researchers have already been able to predict flu trends with information from Google searches (http://www.google.org/flutrends/ca/#CA)

CANADIAN RISING STARS IN GLOBAL HEALTH
	This program aims to tap into the creativity, knowledge and skills of emerging Canadian innovators to solve some of the most persistent health challenges in the developing world through scientific, business, and social innovation. We call this approach Integrated Innovation.

They are looking for inovative ideas to address complex real-world challenges that invovle a scientific or technological solution (new or existing) alone or in combination with social and/or business innovations. 

http://www.grandchallenges.ca/funding/

Why Public Health series

Hi all,

Good news! A draft of my thesis has been submitted to the department! I can't completely breathe yet (especially since we receive a grade that accounts for five of our credits!), but I do know that high GPA or not, I will graduate! Unfortunately it doesn't look like I can convince students to write about their experiences at this time of the year. However, Ned, a videographer at HSPH, shared the links to a new video series that you might enjoy. It's called "Why Public Health?" and features students sharing what got them interested in public health (and a little plug for HSPH of course). I had conceived a similar idea at the beginning of the year, but Ned's version is much more professional. He also features an array of students (although they may all be MPH-ers and thus already doctors) but regardless, take a look and enjoy!!

Nayana Vootakuru, MPH candidate
Serufusa Sekkide, MD, MPH candidate

An Unexpected Revelation at Crunch Time!

Hi all! Hope you've enjoyed the guest blogs! It seems that it's crunch time for everyone now so it might be a while before there's another post! In fact, my thesis is due in just a few short weeks (yikes!) so I probably should be doing what the rest of my classmates are doing and not blogging! Haha.

Any of you who have touched based with me (or read parts of the blog) know that the last several weeks have been particularly stressful for me. I've also tried to preface anything I say by sharing that the current stress I'm under doesn't allow me to paint an "objective" or "fair" view of HSPH. But, the most wonderful thing happened today (and brought a tear to my eye, I'll admit) that reminded me why this experience is worth it.

My mom asked me to call her this evening and said she wanted to share something that one of my younger brothers (who recently entered the teenage years) wrote. For an English assignment, he wrote about his New Year's Experience at the Kalahari Resort (which I blogged and included fun pictures of early this year). But, what really touched me was that his essay wasn't about how amazingly awesome the resort was (and indeed it was); it was about how special the experience was because his sister was there. It was the fact that even though this environment and the pressures of Hah-vahd often make you (i.e., me, students...) feel insignificant and like you don't matter, you and your presence here has an impact on someone.

I don't know if I can, in words, share how touching his words were, but it reminded me that I am a role model. I don't come from a family legacy of Harvard graduates (although I am a third-generation higher education student with extremely intelligent parents and grandparents), and I don't come from a wealthy family where this is considered "the norm." I am proudly a racial/ethnic minority and an individual from a small Midwestern community where so many people never choose or have the opportunity to leave, and I am so fortunate to have made it to where I am. I sometimes feel that systems like here at Harvard that were designed on the "Old Boys Club" mentality aren't designed for me to succeed and that they don't want me to succeed. (Ah-ha! moment: these are my perceptions of the roots of my challenges here). But the words of my brother reminded me that I have to - and I will - succeed and thrive because my success not only impacts me; it impacts so many others who look up to me.

I guess that sometimes you just need a miracle to jolt you, and I think I just got mine. I promise (Girl Scout's honor) to make an effort to be more positive over the next 6 weeks of school, and to do everything in my power to succeed. And I hope that the lessons I've learned from my time here, and hopefully the lives I've impacted, will all feed into making me a better role model and future leader of tomorrow!

Stay tuned for more posts in a couple of weeks...

Guest Blogger: Mariesa, 2nd year SM2, SHHD

This week's entry is from my girl Mariesa, who is one of the few friends that remained here for another year with me! She's someone I really admire for her ability to balance her personal, professional, and academic lives (in my opinion), as well as just being an all-around great person. She's also one of a handful of Harvard College alums, which seems to have really shaped her ability to positively harness the HSPH environment. But I'll let her share more...


It was a cold February back in the 1980s...oh wait, this blog post is supposed to give you a glimpse at being a Harvard student, not a full-length documentary about my awkward upbringing, whoops...sooooo....

I started my degree at HSPH in fall of 2009, as a candidate in the Department of Human Society, Human Development, and Health--it seemed like the most logical fit given my background and interests.  I tested people for HIV in the emergency room of a major Boston academic hospital and worked with Boston teenagers in an inner-city Boston neighborhood to urge them to think twice about drinking that soda with their meal, messing around 'just for the sake of it' without protection, and telling them why 'crack really is whack.'

All in all, my interests in reducing health disparities and understanding behavioral determinants of health landed me to where I am today.  But while I've taken a number of amazing classes with some world-renowned professors at HSPH and at the other Harvard graduate schools, some of the most impactful moments of my academic career have taken place outside of lectures and seminars.  

One thing about me is that I am a very social person, and I love bringing people together.  One thing that lured me to Harvard was Harvard UNIVERSITY--that is, the greater aspect of Harvard outside of the Harvard School of Public Health.  However, as I stepped onto campus, I was actually quite disappointed with how little the different schools interacted--there are so many students who couldn't even tell you the name of one person that goes to a grad school outside of their own.  Sure, the Provost Office works closely with the Harvard Graduate Council to have events for all Harvard graduate students--I was actually one of HSPH reps last year.  It was definitely a great way to meet some pretty amazing people from some of the other grad schools.  But because there is such a quick turn-over for many degree programs (especially like the MPH'ers at HSPH!), it can be difficult to form sustainable relationships.  While the different schools and departments may play a large role in helping to foster such interdisciplinary relationships, it is really up to students themselves to look for ways to reach out and plant the seeds to help foster a greater sense of community and build sustainable relationships.

At the Office of Diversity, one of my projects revolves around improving the quality of interaction among students at HSPH.  We've hosted monthly mixers for different ethnic groups on campus as a way to get groups of students who otherwise may not collaborate on events to come together to meet each other over some refreshments.  Based on the feedback we've gotten from the participants, the initiative has helped spur friendships among people who otherwise would never have had a chance to meet during their time as HSPH.  Even at the bus stop the other day, I ran into a few of the students from the Harvard Club of Japan and we had a nice convo on the M2 ride to HSPH catching up about school life and expressing excitement that we would all be going to an upcoming school event together!  Annnnnnd I got invited to more of the club's upcoming events :)  One thing I do appreciate about HSPH is my very diverse group of friends--not even in undergrad did I have the opportunity to connect on a deeper level with so many amazing individuals from various walks of life.  Guess when everyone's stressed and passionate about similar things, it can bring people together, eh? ;)

I also spearheaded an initiative called the Harvard Black Graduate Alliance, a consortium of the African-American affinity groups across Harvard University. Now, I went here for undergrad and because I've been around for so long, I've had the opportunity to stay in contact with some of my old friends from undergrad--who in turn invited me to various events their schools were hosting, kept me in the loop about what was going on in their own schools that might be of interest to me, and of course introduced me to a number of their own friends.  Having this pipeline of information exchange and seeing how enriched my own experience at HSPH was by connecting with various students from other grad schools, I wanted to be able to offer a similar experience to other African-American students at Harvard. I was actually really surprised and disappointed when I became a graduate student at how very little the different black communities interacted with eachother.   I'd been thinking about forming an overarching organization for some time--but then it really hit when I went to a minority-oriented mixer hosted by the Design School, HSPH, and HSGE and met some great people---only to realize realistically, I may never see them again!  And many of the Design School prospects were worried about their school not having a sizeable amount of students of color for support.  

Now, when times get rough, you often would like the ear or shoulder of someone who can more comprehensively understand where you are coming from.  And so began the process of spearheading such efforts, recruiting "reps" from all of the different schools to serve, getting administrative support, and building a working model to create a meaningful organization that would bring together various African-American students across the Harvard graduate schools by bridging interests and increasing collaboration and interaction.  In its first year, not going to lie, it has been a bit stressful spearheading such an effort and doing what you feel needs to get done so that the organization is accomplishing its goals and will become sustainable. At the very least, through a potluck, a party, small group dinners, and collaboration with the Harvard black Alumni Society (to name a few events), we've definitely helped improve communication of various events going on at the schools to be able to include students who might not otherwise know about such events.  

But a major demonstration of how the community quickly banded together was in response to a racist incident that occurred in Boston back in November, where club managers denied entrance to Black Harvard and Yale graduate students, despite the fact that the venue had been paid for and appropriate arrangements made beforehand.  The community came together and BGA worked to make sure that students and faculty were quickly made aware of the incident and internally decided the appropriate course of action to take against a blatant display of racism.  Ultimately, various Harvard administrators wrote letters in support of the African-American students of Harvard and the community, a lawsuit was filed, and of course various students initiated their own responses.  In the end, at least some form of justice prevailed in that besides receiving overwhelmingly negative publicity for a number of weeks, the club issued a public apology and was fined $30000, of which the money will be donated to groups that are oriented on higher education achievement for African American students.   In the end, it was nice to see that various communities across Harvard could mobilize very quickly--and it was comforting to know that we had the support of various Harvard deans, administrators, and friends from all walks of the Harvard community.   

 My journey here is far from over, or at least I tell myself that as graduation looms near :p...stay tuned!

Guest Blogger: Lama, 2nd Year SM2, GHP

Hi all,

So, we have our first guest blogger who wrote a wonderful piece about her time here at HSPH below! I will just say that Lama is one of the superstars here; she's very involved outside of academics (which, in my opinion, is uncommon), has a unique ability to connect with so many of the faculty here, and does so while always helping out a classmate in need. She's what I wish most colleagues were like! Anyhow, here are her thoughts:

I started at the Harvard School of Public Health as a Master's student in Global Health and Population (GHP) in the fall of 2009. It has been an exciting, turbulent, eye-opening two years that has left me often with feelings of disappointment, but also excitement for the future and a yearning to enter fieldwork.  

My interests lie in the Middle East and North Africa, and while my focus has traditionally been on refugees and (more broadly) health issues with migrant populations, I’ve grown to appreciate the complexity of the situation that surrounds refugee populations. I have become increasingly interested in rebuilding or strengthening health systems in post-conflict settings as well as much of the humanitarian response. This is supplemented by a strong interest in self-determination, allowing people to determine their own destinies regardless of the interests of outside players. This is a recurring and complex issue in humanitarian disasters and post-conflict settings.

Now, will I have a job in any of those interesting topic areas when I graduate? Probably not. J

But before I try figure out the rest of my life, let me tell you a little about my experience here.

The Good

I have learned a lot at HSPH and built up a quantitative skill set that I can be proud of, even if I never use it! I have built some very good relationships both at the School of Public Health and across Harvard. I’ve learned that some of the misconceptions I had about faculty coming in were wrong; while most of my cohort never built a strong relationship with him, Dr. Allan Hill has taught me that senior faculty members can be interesting and flexible in their thoughts as well as open to new and intriguing ideas. He is, by far, one of the most supportive faculty members here, although many people cannot believe me when I say that. He does not have the same research interests as me, but has worked in the Middle East and is really open to talking about anything and everything. In fact, I would say the more junior faculty are possibly less invested in their students because of their busy schedules and understandable constant need to make strides in their research. That is just my experience; I know other people have found faculty members that they are comfortable with.

I think everyone can find a niche here. As a progressive young Muslim Lebanese woman, I have friends that I love and who support me and even ones that, amazingly, think like me! I’ve been part of some great student organizations and have done work that I never thought I would do. Within the last year especially, I’ve been more active in groups that have really allowed me to grow and learn while supporting important movements and ideas. It has been educational and inspiring, a real one of a kind experience, and I can say that because I can’t go back in time to re-experience something different (no counterfactual)!

And lastly, I love this city. Boston <3

The Bad

Over the last two years here, I have grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of sensitivity to, often even a lack of acknowledgement of, the voices of the people being impacted by public health measures that we are discussing.  There is an utter disregard for many of the underlying issues that are often the root of why so many programs and efforts fail. These include race, gender, culture, religion, faith and spirituality, ethnicity, sexuality, power dynamics, imperialism and colonialism -- variety, diversity, differences between people, similarities, history, all the things that make this earth beautiful.

I tell myself, maybe I just feel this way because I’m an immigrant to this country myself, because I feel like they don’t listen to the voices of people in my country. Those voices are over-shadowed by the stomping feet of the big players, as they are in other countries, and those stomping feet are usually loud and .. you know.. stomping on the people. And rather than seeing my school as a partner to the people, it really is more of a stomper itself. I will say that so many people here do have good intentions, but frankly, when people’s lives are at stake, that is not good enough for me. While we have centers at the School that work in humanitarian response or in health systems, I have failed to fully fit into those because of that gnawing notion in my mind: self-determination and, at a minimum, inclusion of populations in the decisions made about them.

And The Ugly…

I believe that the worst part about all of this is that we do not have constructive conversations, even as students, about these issues. We all know there is systemic (and not-so-systemic) discrimination at Harvard as an institution and some of us may have experienced it in person as women, as Muslims, as Africans or African Americans. HSPH may be the most internationally diverse of all the Harvard graduate schools, and so, never having discussions about race, ethnicity, gender, religion…  just astonishes me!

Because I have felt that my education is so Western-oriented and top-down, I have excelled at learning it (know your enemy J). I have also focused much more on developing my skill set: the quantitative skills that they emphasize so much, and even skills needed for economics, and some qualitative research skills. I am convinced that I may one day be able to use the foundational knowledge, apply those skills, change them, adapt them, or develop completely new methods to impact my country, my people, and my region.

Should I have expected more from Haavaad? Maybe not. J

If you’d like to have a discussion about any of these issues, or my areas of interest, my work as a Student Ambassador at the Office of Diversity (and my 2 other jobs, or the numerous student groups I’m involved with!), feel free to email me at lamahassoun@gmail.com.

Peace and love,

Lama

Harvard Arab Weekend

I got engaged over the summer!

 

Muslim Student Group Dinner

You know you missed me: a ME update!

To my adoring fans and followers [i.e., Mom and Dad, if you even read this], I'm sure you're wondering why I've been so quiet of late. Well, stress has finally taken its toll on me! While most of my classmates finished midterms/finals last week, I'm still working to complete a paper. As people start thinking about what comes next, I'm trying to figure out how I can graduate and not spend one more unnecessary day here! *Sigh* I guess the moral of this year-and-a-little-more-than-a-half-long story is that I am not Superwoman. It is not humanly possible to take 7 classes including a thesis, work 3 jobs at 30+ hours/week, manage a team of inactive people as co-President of an organization, actively be involved in church, and remain sane (let alone have much of a social life). I tried to be Superwoman, and maybe I came close, but not quite. ;)


Over the last few weeks, I've had some very interesting, enlightening experiences that I do think are worth sharing. One of which was a weekend trip to the National Hispanic Leadership Conference in Chicago, which proved to be an informative and fun weekend! Another experience was coordinating "Karamu," the HSPH African and the Diaspora Cultural Show (though the experience was so frustrating and taxing that you may have to wait a while to hear more about that). And then there was one sad attempt to go out and meet my future husband at a social event (kind of joking; don't worry!)...

The thing is, I'm burnt out now and my positivity meter has dropped down to its last mercury levels. As I try to focus on my studies/thesis and try to pull through to the end, I want to ensure that you're still able to get some perspectives of life here without the "Debby Downer" (i.e., depressing) weekly updates that might come out of me for now. So, to make this blog more interactive, I've invited guest writers to provide an overview of their experience at HSPH each week. I've given them free reign to talk about "the good, the bad, and the ugly," so be prepared for honest opinions from students who have made it to the inside! Feel free to post comments and questions as always, and hopefully we'll be in touch again soon!!

 One day at a time--this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering. -From Anonymous

Oh, Grammy's...(Yes, this would be my commentary)

So, I managed to spend my entire evening watching the Grammy's and I had a few thoughts that I just felt the need to share. Maybe someone can understand!!

1. Ryan Seacrest, Juiliana, Kelly Osborne...you make a great fashion team. I really loved watching the three of you discuss peoples' outfits. I'm not convinced that I believe you, but it was fun nonetheless.
2. When did sitting in an egg become an iconic move? Mad props to Lady Gaga for transforming the way that America sees fashion...(not completely sure I understand it, but it's kind of genius)
3. J. Hudson - you look amazing. A-MA-ZING! Please share you're trainer with me because I know that WeightWatchers alone didn't help to form that body.
4. Bieber-Fever! Bieber-Fever! Need I say more? Guddi, I know if you were here you'd understand... :) (P.S.-Kind of want to see the movie now...is that bad?)
5. And, why is Selena Gomez trying to act all discrete. We all know you're a couple.
6. Why is the Smith family so ridiculously cute?! OMG! I sometimes wish that Jayda and Will were, like, my second set of parents. And the little boy is Will Smith's son turned actor turned rapper? What? Love it!!
7. Banjos at the Grammy's. Really? Okay.
8. Um...Gweneth Paltrow?! [uncomfortable pause]. I know you did that movie where you looked ridiculous trying to be a country star (at least from the previews, which is as far as I got). Honestly, when did you start singing. Not saying I didn't enjoy it a little, but really...
9. What happened to reggae? And ragga? Grammy...you're slacking! Why don't we have a Bob Marley throwback. "No woman, no cry" (Guddi, Mark - shout out!)
10. As I watch Katy Perry, all I can think about is how having a distinct "persona" is the new thing. Katy, Gaga, and let's not forget Ms. Menage...
11. Why didn't the cast of Glee perform. Now that would have been awesome! The show is starting to make me feel like I should be watching "the Kardashians" (except, even Kim is at the Grammy's). 
12. When is Bieber going to win a Grammy? I don't want to wait anymore.
13. Rianna's dress was kinda hot, Emininem is kinda hot, and Dr. Dre is still alive!
14. P.S.- John Legend is super hot!

Gosh, I really love the Grammy's...

Happy Weekend!!

I write to you with a smile on my face today because I have internet access. (Apparently, no one else in my building does...thank you wi-fi!).

Aside from that happy moment, I think I've actually reached a point of being overwhelmed. I mean, life is crazy, and so is keeping up! I can barely deal with 6 classes, thesis, and 25 hours of work, but add the planning for the upcoming African cultural showcase and you can see gray hair sprouting from my head! Ahh! (But, let me do a shout out - Karamu: An African Celebration - is coming to the Boston area via Kresge Cafeteria at 6 pm on Feb. 23; holler!).

Since I'm procrastinating a bit (just kidding - a lot a bit), I did want to share that while it seems that things haven't been the most upbeat lately, there are all sorts of fun and exciting activities happening around here! This past weekend started with my friend's 25th bday at a club called Gypsy, the first club I went to after moving to Boston! Saturday for me included a workout and some major grocery shopping, and then I took the rest of the day for myself to get some much needed R&R.

For the rest of my classmates, though, Saturday was the famous Winter Ball (a formal dance/"Prom" for HSPH students). I heard this years' was popping with a whopping 450 guests (at least!). Definitely a good way to interact with classmates in a non-academic environment.

(Unfortunately, this is the only pic I could scrounge up from FB...If anyone has more, please share)

My Sunday hasn't been anything to get excited about but the Grammy's will be starting really soon, so that's exciting. Also, the rest of this month is full of activities through school and Shattuck including:

• A Hispanic Leadership Conference in Chicago this weekend (yay!!! Midwest represent)
• Weekend ski trip
• Karamu!!! (be there or be square)
• Wine tasting
• Potluck dinner
• and the biggest career fair of the year! 

Good thing I got some rest this weekend; it's seems like I'll need all that I can get!

Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once.

-From Lillian Dickson

Reflections on Diversity and People at HSPH

Yesterday marked the 3rd Annual Unity Reception, an Office of Diversity-sponsored event where the school publicly reaffirms its commitment to diversity. On the one hand, the event is a huge political feat as Dean Frenk takes time out of his busy schedule to offer some words on diversity at HSPH (and us students get to eat really yummy food). On the other hand, the event is filled with irony, as Office of Diversity Director Dr. Dale Trevino comments on the historical importance of diversity in a U.S. setting and not one  Hispanic-American is present. (In fact, in recent discussions with classmates, I'm not sure that there are any in the entire school...)

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the diversity that we do have and the commitment that the school makes; other schools (*cough*cough*Hopkins) have rearranged priorities, and supporting offices such as an Office of Diversity is not among them. It was just so interesting that this event occurred because lately, I've been doing a lot of reflecting. I've been thinking about the people I've met and relationships I've formed here at HSPH. I know that with my ridiculous load, this shouldn't even be on my list of things to do, but since I took the time to think it, I figured I might as well share...

I was speaking with a friend of mine the other day, and he commented that he couldn't believe that one year was almost over. If he had chosen to complete his MPH in the suggested 9-month time frame, he didn't feel that he would have had enough time to get to know HSPH, Harvard, and the people here. On the one hand, I can see that. I feel that I made several relationships last year, some of which have become stronger from a distance. I guess in one year, you have a limited time to really get to know someone and so much of what you remember is either: you liked them or you didn't; you clicked or you clashed; you want them to be a part of your future network or you don't. When I look back on my relationships from last year, there are a few people that I feel I've remained close with since they graduated last year and there are several others that I keep in touch with from time to time. I love them as people, value their friendship, and respect them for what they have (and will) accomplish.

Then, there are people that I wouldn't have truly become friends with if I had graduated last year. Some of my closest amigas here now are students I knew last year but didn't connect on a personal level with until after the one-year hump. 

But then there are those that after some time, I've started to question our relationship. Do they really value me as a friend? Or was our connection more for networking purposes? Is the way I'm feeling now based on "signs" I didn't notice all along, or is it me that's changed? Or perhaps, is this just the nature of the relationships we form at this institution, within the average age-group here, and at this level, as opposed to what my experience before coming here. For the very few people who came straight out of undergrad, is this the manifestation of "growing up?"

Thinking of all of this brought me back the concept of diversity among students at HSPH. It occurred to me that the students here come from such a variety of backgrounds, which while enhancing our learning may also contribute to interpersonal relations. I wonder if Nigerian-American, small Midwestern town identity, for example, prevents some people from fully being able to relate to or understand me, while my own lens impacts the way in which I connect with some others. (So philosophical, I know, but just follow...) ;) 

In my "Analyzing Culture" class at the Ed school, we were actually talking about the "sense of otherness" that people may choose to box you into because they don't understand or can't categorize you. I'm Midwestern (i.e., not a New Englander), Nigerian-American (i.e., a melange between one and the other), and you can group me into either of those categories. But, I'm also a proud Spartan (go MSU!), from a public state higher-education institution (no prep school, no Ivy League). I sometimes find that the diversity of backgrounds of people here at HSPH leaves me feeling isolated...different...I have been fortunate enough to be provided with tools, encouragement, as well as my own personal motivation, to find ways to compensate. But if I were coming from some other backgrounds (certain racial/ethnic groups without a presence here, lower socioeconomic status, etc.) and had never been exposed to ways of finding support and connections in a place like this, this type of environment might seem too much to handle.

Honestly, with all the formal "lunch dates" and organized visits to peoples' houses (which I have learned is related to culture), sometimes I wonder what happened to the random phone calls at 8 pm to informally "hangout" and have a beer?

Perhaps my experience isn't typical. Perhaps most of these thoughts, worries, and insecurities are about me and the background that I'm coming from. But I'm also realizing that I'm now in a very different environment now. I'm not in college where everyone wants to save the world and will do whatever it takes to try and contribute to realizing that dream; just getting people to commit to planning an event like an African cultural showcase for 100 people is really hard (and sometimes discouraging)! Even though I don't always realize it, this is an intense, quietly competitive environment. This stop is just one of many on the journey to become a world-renowned doctor or researcher, and so I think that many people do what they feel they need to do to get there. If you're lucky enough to find people that you can relate to, then you can really enjoy the experience and form great bonds along the way. 

Dissenting Views at HSPH

A thought crossed my mind yesterday in class about the type of atmosphere HSPH promotes. Generally speaking, I feel like my own perspectives are part of the mainstream. I find myself to be more liberal in terms of the role of the government; I believe that intervening in health crises is a responsibility - not just a luxury - for countries such as the US. But something in class yesterday didn't sit quite right as I realized I had an opposing view.  

I'm enrolled in a course called "Society and its Effect on the Child," and overall, I've really enjoyed it. It's based in the Society, Health, and Human Development department, so it has much stronger links to social sciences than global health. If I had taken this course last year, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much. Many of the topics remind me of a less intelligent conversation from my undergrad. (I'll add a disclaimer, however, that the people I had such discussions with in undergrad were "experts" due to 4 years of research while I think the topics are somewhat new to some of my current classmates).  

That notwithstanding, we were talking about a theory in social determinants yesterday that suggested that capitalist models in society are often to the detriment of the disadvantaged. As someone who’s done work on structural barriers including racism, I found this to be an intriguing model. However, the example given was about breast milk vs. formula and how only the multinationals benefit.  

 Now, think about it for a minute. Yes, I agree that the nutrition of mothers should be improved. And yes, I agree that breast milk has substantial benefits for nutrition of children. But there were 3 areas in particular that I thought presented a counterargument to my professor's point: 

1.     Babies born to HIV-positive mothers can benefit from formula. While perhaps recent years have led to developments that make breastfeeding less of a health risk in the transmission of HIV, avoiding breast milk from an HIV-positive mother is a sure bet. (Of course, it's important to identify that not receiving breast milk could have nutritional repercussions for children, hence the need for development if antiretrovirals (anti-AIDS medications) and other technologies. But that doesn't change the fact that not have breast milk has benefits in this respect).  

2.     Formula feeding has reduced discomfort and diarrhea in lactose-intolerant children. Case and point: me! I had difficulty digesting breast milk as a child and often cried due to discomfort. My mom has shared, however, that I seemed more content when drinking lactose-free formula. I cried less and digested more. 

3.     Using formula provides an opportunity for mothers to work, and this has both financial and mental health benefits for the mother. We live in a society now where women have much more access to working. We may still be underpaid and under hired, but the influence of women in the workforce has drastically increased. Being able to use formula as a feeding supplement provides a way to keep children nourished while the mother is at work, particularly in the absence of a breast pump. We could argue whether or not the role of the woman is to be at work or at home, but as someone raised in a "women are equal" environment, I've seen that being able to work is empowering, and this can improve mental health. It can also help bring in additional income to the household.  

While I don't believe that formula use is the end all and be all, or that it should be used exclusively, I do believe that it has some benefits. And what bothered me today was that as the only person with a vocalized dissenting view, I didn't have the opportunity to make my argument. It made me think about a program that we put on in Shattuck not too long ago where we watched the State of the Union address (and made commentary along the way). The assumption was that everyone was a democrat or Obama supporter, but understandably, the one person I knew wasn't in that category was quite silent. I think that while HSPH is often a great place if you're a part of the majority, it can be difficult for those in the minority. 

“Minority is about being an individual. It's like you have to sift through the darkness to find your place and be that individual you want to be your entire life.”

-From the band Green Day