So You Want to Go to Harvard?: 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