We asked public health students and recent graduates to share their "why" - what motivated them to pursue this degree and profession. Here are more of their stories. Rebecca Miller, MPH, MS, Case Western Reserve University Throughout my life, I've witnessed many in my community go through health challenges and…
We asked public health students and recent graduates to share their "why" - what motivated them to pursue this degree and profession. Here are their stories. Toria Isquith, MPH candidate, CUNY School of Public Health I wanted more knowledge of policy formation and analysis so that I could become an…
Raised in the inner city of New York and born to a low-income, Haitian, immigrant family, I was challenged to surpass the circumstances of a life characterized by financial instability, street violence, and frequent encounters with health care, ripe with confusion and fragmented instruction. My mother worked overtime to ensure…
The question is: Can the online communities built up around us - full of activism, viral sensations and cat videos - lead to offline wellness?
Since I was a young child, I always admired and appreciated the concept of health and safety for all people and in every community. With this concept in mind, I knew that going to college was a strategy to fulfill this young girl’s passion. I had the privilege of attending…
ACT I: An Introduction to Theater in Public Health I remember my first big role as the Tree in a live adaptation of The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. I was upset being cast as a tree stump, but I was so drawn to the story we were telling. We…
Introduction to Sex Discourse in the United States In the United States (US), 95% of the population has sex before marriage. ((Donovan, M. K. (2017). The Looming Threat to Sex Education: A Resurgence of Federal Funding for Abstinence-Only Programs? Guttmacher Policy Review, 20. Retrieved from https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2017/03/looming-threat-sex-education-resurgence-federal-funding-abstinence-only-programs)) On average, young people…
As the old adage goes, a person’s identity is shaped by a culmination of their positive and negative experiences. This can range from intimate experiences with family to minute run-ins with strangers. My own growing personal desire to understand public health stems from an eccentric combination of these experiences, and…
Public health is a broad term, encompassing many dynamic fields with complex interactions that affect the well-being of a population. My interests in public health lie mainly within the area of mental health, a crucial component of well-being; while the medical establishment is (generally) placing more importance on mental health,…
Content warning: mental illness, image of gun, reference to suicide. Note: Images are redacted for de-identification purposes. Addressing Mental Illness as a College Student The first time I set up a therapy appointment, I didn’t go. It wasn’t because I changed my mind. I had already spent a few months…
(Or, how to work with animals and get paid for it) First Exposure My first exposure to veterinary medicine as a public health discipline was while working in a high-volume spay and neuter clinic. There, I saw hundreds of feral cats come through our trap-neuter-return (TNR) program and be released…
I was born into a community defined by gender. Where subtle discriminations, sprouted at birth, developed into an intricate system of excuses and dependencies systemically binding women and men alike. Where men are held at such a high standard of masculinity that it is not uncommon for them to turn…
