Working in a Hopkins Engineering Research Lab

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Name: Vincent Wang

Hometown: Fair Lawn, New Jersey

Year: Class of 2014

 Major: Mechanical Engineering

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“I work in a research lab,” I tell people. “Do you blow stuff up?” is, strangely enough, one of the most common questions I’ve been asked.

No, unfortunately, we don’t blow things up, stare at rats all day, wear nice white lab coats, or even use test tubes. We’re not going to cure cancer or discover a new element.

But we do get to play with some pretty cool toys.

I’m a research assistant at the JHU Laboratory for Experimental Fluid Dynamics, a division of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The project I help out with is focused on a water jet pump designed by the U.S. Navy. A water jet pump, at its most basic, can be thought of as a propeller in a tube. It offers a few advantages over conventional propellers, including increased maneuverability and better operation in shallow water. They’re already in some torpedoes, submarines, and jet skis, but are expensive to develop and produce. The project aims to study the effect of cavitation (a negative phenomenon that occurs at high rotation speeds) as well as plot efficiency curves for the pump.

But that’s not all – we use four video cameras, worth almost $100,000 each, and a substantially more expensive high-powered laser for “particle image velocimetry” (PIV). PIV involves shooting a sheet of laser light into an area of the test facility and using the cameras to capture high resolution images of what happens within the illuminated area – this can be applied inside the pump or around it. I got a chance to work with the laser and a variety of optical lenses and mirrors to manipulate the beam to create the sheet of light. After testing and tweaking the optics with a small laser pointer, we got to shoot the actual laser into the setup, something me and another research assistant were ridiculously excited for. Mind you, the laser we use is a “Class IV” laser, capable of burning the skin, causing permanent eye damage from even indirect exposure, and cutting through various materials. We had to wear goggles with red lenses that made us look like Cyclops from X-Men to avoid losing our eyesight.

Awesome, right?

Quite honestly, research is one of my favorite parts of life at Hopkins (if not my favorite!). Part of the reason is that I find the research we’re doing fascinating; granted, most of it involves advanced fluid dynamics that I don’t understand, but I’m learning more every day. The people I work with are great, always finding time to help complete my tasks or answer a question in detail. They’re also maybe the most diverse group of people on campus, including a postdoctoral researcher from Italy and doctoral candidates from Singapore and China, each coming from a different background and with their own bundle of interesting stories.

The other reason is that it’s so applicable to what I’m learning in the classroom. Everything from MATLAB to the class “Statics and Mechanics of Materials” has come in handy during my time as a research assistant. It’s really interesting for me to see how things I learn in lecture can be used in real-world applications. It also (and, embarrassingly, maybe most importantly…) has me thinking, “What is the point of learning this?”, one of my high school classmates’ favorite phrases, a lot less.

So we might not be developing the next major use of stem cells, but we’re getting a glimpse into the future of machinery. The Navy is looking into using water jet pumps on a larger scale, eventually maybe even replacing propellers completely with pumps. I get to work with cool equipment and learn about the newest developments in a field directly related to what I want to do in the future, aeronautical engineering (air is a fluid too!).

And best of all? It’s fun.

From the Classroom to the Government

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Having wanted to study International Studies for as long as I can remember, current events have been a major part of my academic life. From reading the local newspaper every day when I was younger to studying the foreign relations of every country from Israel to China, it is something I have indulged myself in nearly every day of my life. So when it came time to search for internships for the summer between my Junior and Senior year as an undergraduate, there was one place that instantly jumped to the forefront: the United States Department of State.

I hadn’t known anyone that had ever interned or worked there before, and I had absolutely no idea of how to go about the process whatsoever. In addition, the fact that I was studying abroad in Turkey at the time did not help me in gaining much help about the process. Thankfully, even while I was over five thousand miles away, the Johns Hopkins Career Center was able to help me through the often-confusing process. While my journey abroad ended in January of the following year, the process of obtaining a coveted internship at the Department of State did not. As I became flooded with security clearance paperwork that Einstein himself couldn’t decode, the Career Center was again able to help me sort through the mess.

After the month long process, having made my way through the endless field of paperwork and security clearances, my first day arrived in the summer of 2011. As I sat on the train from nearby Penn Station in Baltimore to Union Station in Washington, D.C., I couldn’t help but wonder what was in store for me. I had always heard about what the Department of State did from the news, from different forms of American policy to where the Secretary of State was going to be visiting that day.

After making my way through security I was escorted up to the office in which I would be working: the Office of United Nations Political Affairs. For the first time, I would see all of the international relations knowledge put into application in the real world. Throughout my time there, I had the opportunity to see the inner workings of American policy firsthand: how the United States communicated with its embassies and international organizations, how the government worked on an individualistic basis – and most importantly – how the foreign policy of the United States was developed on a daily basis. I had completed other internships before at a wide range of organizations and companies, but they feigned in comparison to what I witnessed every single day at the Department of State. As new developments occurred around the world, I would witness the immediate response to each event and how policy eventually worked its way from the desk of an individual to the front page of national newspapers. I also knew that the research and writing I did on a daily basis would contribute to this process; that what I did played a role – no matter how small – in the development of American foreign policy.

After having spent a summer with the Department of State, it is impossible for me to view current events in the same way. Whether learning about American policy in class or reading about it in the news, I always think about the individuals behind these policies, and all of the work done in order to make it a reality. This internship has given me a new perspective that I am sure will continue to affect me the rest of my academic career.

What I Did Last Summer

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In this guest blog entry, I’d like to write about what I did this summer. Each year, tons of Hopkins students head out to internships – whether they’re based in Baltimore or Botswana. I was fortunate enough to obtain an engineering intern position at AECOM in Laurel, Maryland which is part-way between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Our office building in Laurel, MD.

Obtaining an internship position is overall not difficult. This year I waited a bit too long, and found myself looking for an internship in February. This is later than generally desired, but really worked out for me. As it turns out, a ton of project work had prevented our Projects Director from looking for a summer intern during the fall. Thanks to a friend of Admissions_Shannon, I was able to meet the Project Director and was asked to come in for an interview.

AECOM is a large technical services company – the acronym actually stands for Architecture, Engineering, Consulting, Operations, and Management. AECOM employs some 50,000 employees with offices in more than 100 countries. They’ve been ranked the #1 engineering design firm for several years in Engineering News Record, and now fall at the #1 spot on the Architectural Record list, too. AECOM’s business lines are: Building Engineering, Construction Services, Energy, Environment, Planning, Design + Development (PDD), Program Management, Program, Cost, Consultancy (PCC), Transportation, and Water. Our office in Laurel operates in the Water business line.

The reception area in our office.

Many AECOM offices originally operated under different consulting firms before being acquired by AECOM. For instance, AEOCM has 3 offices in Maryland, but just a few years ago all three were operated by separate companies, and probably were somewhat of competitors. Our office in Laurel had been a Metcalf & Eddy (M&E) office. M&E was the nation’s oldest environmental engineering consulting firm, started in 1907 by Leonard Metcalf and Harrison Eddy. The firm really brought water and wastewater treatment technology throughout the US. M&E even wrote a series of textbooks, started in the early 20^th century. Today the textbook series continues, with books on such innovative topics as water reuse. There is a great sense of pride felt by those who work with the M&E team, and I feel very fortunate to be a part of this legacy.

So now that you know the history, what did I actually do? Well, I can’t get into specifics on a lot of the projects. The client-consultant relationship is something we take pretty seriously. Also, the drinking water supply of the Baltimore/Washington area essentially lies in our hands, so many of our projects required security clearances before I could become involved.

My Cube: Before

My Cube Now. It’s become a little more cluttered as the summer has progressed.

Overall, our projects focus on the drinking water filtration and wastewater treatment plants in the Baltimore/DC area. In this area, the Chesapeake Bay has been severely impaired over the years due to excess nutrient loading – both from nutrients (like nitrogen and phosphorous) leaving “point sources” like treatment plants’ treated sewage effluent, and also from “non-point” sources like chicken farms on the DelMarVa peninsula. Regulations have been enacted to require treatment plant upgrades to keep these nutrient pollutants out of the Bay. And engineering firms are needed to plan, design, and sometimes supervise the construction of these upgrades – that’s mainly where we come in.

We’ve also been looking towards some of those non-point sources, in the form of stormwater management technologies, and stream restoration. Our office also does a fair bit of water reuse, which is of particular interest to me. I worked with my advisor, Dr. Edward Bouwer, of the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering on the issue of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and water reuse for my first two years at Hopkins.

Right now I am involved in the design of a water reuse system that will take treated wastewater effluent and use it as irrigation water for a golf course for one of our clients. This is a particularly innovative solution that makes so much sense given the issues of water scarcity that we hear about daily. We just began the design use for this project as my summer internship ended, so I am very happy that I have been made a permanent AECOM employee so that I can see this project through to its eventual completion. I have had a great time learning and growing professionally at AECOM and look forward to what will come in my future after I graduate this May.

NASA Space Elevator

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Name: Victor Ekanem

Year: Class of 2012

Hometown: Baltimore, MD

Major: Biomedical Engineering

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Hopkins' climber

Last year as an eager freshman, freshly exposed to the world of Hopkins with a semester under my belt, I looked for the coolest project that I could get involved in. Well, I didn’t do too much looking before I found something I liked. The department of Electrical & Computer Engineering was starting a project to help promote collaboration between freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. It was a win-win situation; I got to work on a very innovative project and had the opportunity team up with upperclassman, graduate students, and even professors. My first year at Hopkins isn’t looking too bad at all!

So, the NASA Space Elevator competition is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a competition hosted by NASA in efforts to develop a space elevator. An elevator to space could someday be used to transport needed materials into space, allowing us to avoid the large cost to launch a space

the climber's destination

shuttle. This competition is under the NASA Centennial Challenges as the Power Beaming Competition. The main goal of the competition is to find an effective method of wireless power transmission, since if an elevator does ever reach space, a 300 mile long electrical cable would be far too heavy to be held from space down to earth. Each team builds a robot vehicle that is powered wirelessly from the ground by a mega powerful 8kWatt invisible laser, through high efficiency solar panels, while climbing up a vertical cable in the sky. The competition is repeated every year until a team can claim the grand prize of $2 million by surpassing a certain height and speed requirement. NASA wants a robot that can climb at 5 meters per second up to the top of a cable held 1 km up in the air by a hovering helicopter. No team has claimed the grand prize yet; so we’re very eager to put our climber to the test in the next competition this upcoming summer.

the Hopkins team at work

Although our team consists of about 10 members, we designed and built our robot through subteams. Each subteam is responsible for engineering an essential part of the climber. Our entire team meets at the end of each week to discuss the progress of the project. Each subteam meets individually during the week for actual build time in the lab.  I work on the laser beam delivery group that’s responsible for expanding the beam from only a few millimeters in diameter on the ground to several feet in diameter in the air. My duties include performing loads of theoretical calculations, building small scale prototypes, and even some compatibility testing. Working in subteams allows us to better address the needed details for each component, while still promoting collaboration to ensure that we are fulfilling the overall purpose of the project.

Overall, I would have to say that this is the coolest thing (at least I think so) at Hopkins. I work hand-in-hand with some of Hopkins’ coolest professors, collaborate with high profile companies, and get to work with my closest friends. I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything!

International Conference on Birth Defects & Disabilities in India

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Name: Neha Deshpande

Year: Class of 2011

Hometown: Monmouth Junction, NJ

Major: Molecular and Cellular Biology, minor in French Cultural Studies

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From October 4-7, 2009, over 350 delegates from 28 countries gathered in New Delhi, India for the 4th International Birth Defects and Disabilities Conference in the Developing World. Conference delegates included leaders from The March of Dimes Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and The National Institute of Health, to name  a few. Delegates ranged from health professionals, policy makers, social workers, patients, administrators, and volunteers – the youngest of whom was me!

My name is Neha Deshpande and I am currently a junior, Molecular & Cellular Biology major at Hopkins. I am involved in many activities on campus including research at the medical campus, dancing with my team JHU JOSH, working as a JHU Admissions Representative, leading the JHU Women’s Pre-Health Leadership Society, and teaching French to a 3rd grade class at a local Baltimore public school. However, by far my biggest commitment is to mothers and babies across the world. After 9 years of volunteering with the March of Dimes (MOD), the nation’s pioneer in maternal and infant health, I am the 2009-2010 March of Dimes National Youth Chair. I represent over 1 million youth volunteers across the nation who are working towards a day when every baby is born healthy.

As the Chair of the MOD National Youth Council, I assist the organization in the design and implementation of various youth leadership programs such as health initiatives to promote healthy lifestyle choices among teens and young adults, advocacy initiatives to push for newborn screening and maternal and infant health insurance, communication via the national “Youth Times” newsletter, and education programs such as fall and summer volunteer leadership conferences. Currently, I am working with March of Dimes Global Programs to establish an international network of youth volunteers. The goal of this network is to emphasize collective action to improve birth outcomes and help reduce mortality and disability for birth defects and preterm births worldwide. The network would include youth from six academic centers including China, Lebanon, The Philippines, Brazil, Egypt, and the United States.

My goal at the 4th International conference was not only to represent March of Dimes Team Youth, but to relay the importance of “The Power of Youth in Global Public Health.” My presentation offered strategies for mobilizing young professionals in developing countries to help reduce the rates of death and disability from preterm birth and birth defects in local communities. I shared my experiences working with March of Dimes Team Youth, a long-standing and successful model for engaging and sustaining volunteer activity in areas of community service, advocacy, education, and fundraising. Did you know that more than 1 in every 4 persons in the world is a youth aged 10-24 years? (Population Reference Bureau, February 2006). Nearly 70% of the world’s young people live in developing countries, which means that youth represent an untapped resource with the time, incentive, and energy to volunteer in ways that can help solve social, economic, and health challenges.

The 4th International Conference was a spectacular opportunity that really showed me that the work we do as volunteers has both national and global impact. Every year, an estimated 7.8 million children are born in the world with a serious genetic or acquired birth defect. Of these children who are born, 3.3 million die each year. The impact of birth defects is particularly severe in developing countries where 95% of deaths of children occur who have serious birth defects. Tragically, every year nearly 13 million babies are born prematurely worldwide, and one million of these babies die. The March of Dimes Global Programs is working hard to combat these disturbing statistics. To understand more about the March of Dimes’ mission on a global scale, check out the recently published White Paper on Preterm Birth (a pdf version).

A trip to India would not be complete without some sightseeing! I was fortunate to have my mother accompany me as my guest and we spent a few days after the conference visiting the Taj Mahal as well as family members in Mumbai, India.

November is also National Prematurity Awareness Month so I encourage all of you to show your support for moms and babies worldwide! Visit our website and sign up for our E-newsletter, do something nice for a local Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or Create your virtual band to celebrate, honor, or remember a baby in your life. We have also developed an incredible volunteer toolkit that you should check out if you are interested in more ways to get involved with the March of Dimes.

I would like to thank The Johns Hopkins Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program for sponsoring my trip to India. Without this amazing fellowship program, I would not have had this extraordinary life-changing experience serving as a delegate at an international conference!

**Editor’s note: Be sure to check out Neha’s previous guest blog entry, “Intersession in India.”**

Epidemic Proportions

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Name: Jae Kim 
Year: Class of 2011 
Hometown: Lewis Center, OH 
Major: Neuroscience   

Name: Natalie Draisin 
Year: Class of 2010 
Hometown: Closter, NJ 
Major: Public Health Studies    

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I can still remember my first impression of Epidemic Proportions.   

Impressive.   

The staff. The quality of the journal. The discussions.
  
I had come to Hopkins with spectacular hopes for public health and however clichéd this may sound, I wanted to make a difference in the world. The problem: I was terribly intimidated by EP and its commitment to excellence. As a freshman, I had minimal exposure to journalism and experience with the process. Did I mention I was a freshman? But my doubts and worries quickly melted. At the first staff meeting, I saw first-hand the high level of respect among fellow staff members and their passionate dedication to this journal. Over the year, I gained an appreciation for the journal and learned quite a few things along the way.  Now, as a sophomore and current co-editor-in-chief, EP continues to be a major part of my Hopkins experience.  (-Jae Kim, Class of 2011)

So, you’re probably thinking: what is EP exactly?       

Epidemic Proportions is the Johns Hopkins undergraduate public health research journal, and one of the oldest in the country. It provides students with an outlet to publish their work, learn how to edit, and contribute to layout. Epidemic Proportions combines journalism with public health, and is comprised of a team of devoted, intelligent, and talented individuals who represent a variety of majors. Our audience includes students, professors, and faculty from not only Homewood campus, but also the Bloomberg School of Public Health and other Hopkins-affiliated institutions. We are widely revered and this journal is the face of JHU's prestigious public health major.       

The goal of EP is to capture the breadth and depth of the Hopkins public health experience. By highlighting valuable and interesting public health work of Hopkins undergraduates, we hope to inspire others to contribute to the vast field of public health. Our journal is composed of four main sections: research, perspectives, features, and editorials.       

Research is a central component of our journal because we understand the importance of supporting our good intentions with solid evidence. We only publish Hopkins research because we are confident in the caliber of our undergraduates, who may very well solve tomorrow’s ailments.     

The perspectives section showcases professors and faculty within the Hopkins community, who have taken giant steps in the field of public health. Through personal accounts and Q-and-A interviews, we hope to engage and encourage our Homewood campus to pursue research and fieldwork in public health.       

The features section highlights the exciting experiences of our undergraduates, both locally and abroad in the form of research, volunteering, and internships. In previous years we have received features pieces from students who pursued tuberculosis research in Iran, interned at the World Health Organization (WHO), and volunteered at an eye clinic in the Philippines.       

Last, but certainly not least, is our brilliant editorials section, which is written by staff members with strong opinions on current public health issues and controversies. We also welcome contributing authors who wish to publish their op-eds and share their voice with the Hopkins community.       

At every meeting, we have food to fuel our staff members. Recently, we began having potluck dinners in the hopes of bringing  together our staff members and so far, the food has been amazing and it has become a new favorite tradition. At our first potluck, Dr. Goodyear (advisor for the public health major) and his wife, as well as Susan Vazakas (our editing advisor), joined us as we brainstormed for ideas. Our latest meeting, on Friday, February 27 was also a potluck dinner. We had a great time together and made a list of potential articles for the coming issue. Not only did we meet the quota we set for articles, but with the hard work of our devoted staff, we exceeded it! On April 23, we will have an EP family party to celebrate the completion of this issue. (-Natalie Draisin, Class of 2010)

There is an opportunity for everyone to be involved in Epidemic Proportions. Anyone, from any major and year, can join and there is no need to have seniority to be an editor. We have two editors-in-chief, a secretary, a treasurer, four section editors, about two to four assistant editors for each section, and a layout staff. However, we constantly revise the organization of the staff to streamline the production process. Elections will be held on April 23 for our next staff, who will begin working in the Fall of 2009 while the current staff finishes laying out our issue. Once the staff is established, interviews for new staff members will be advertised. If you are interested in joining, please e-mail us at ep@jhu.edu, and check us out at http://www.jhu.edu/~ep/. We hope to see YOUR FACE on our staff next year!

Working with HIV/AIDS Patients in Kakinada, India

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Name: Nick Arora

Year: Class of 2010

Hometown: Woodinville, WA

Major: Public Health, Biology

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For those familiar with it, William Osler’s

Aequanimitas likely conjures up a vision of the virtuous Father of Medicine, the power of his principles, and perhaps his time at Johns Hopkins. Interestingly enough, I wasn’t introduced to these concepts at Hopkins, but rather in Kakinada, India, a developing port town quite literally half way across the world. During my eight weeks in Kakinada this summer, I learned of equanimity, the concept of evenness of mind, from Dr. Ravi Vadrevu, a dermatologist and HIV physician at the Sai Sudha Hospital. It was immediately evident that successfully managing such a significant volume of patients, clinical, and administrative tasks relied on clear, critical thinking.

From July to August, I “interned” at the hospital while living on the top floor. The private hospital sees 150 – 200 outpatients daily, with cases ranging from dermatology and general surgery to infectious disease, namely HIV and tuberculosis. The 25 – 30 HIV positive patients visiting the hospital daily were the population we mostly focused on during my tenure in Kakinada. Addressing HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Kakinada is significant, as the state of Andhra Pradesh has India’s largest documented HIV incidence rate, while the East Godavri District (where Kakinada is located) has the highest HIV prevalence within the State. Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death amongst Indians with HIV; approximately 325,000 die each year.

After spending time in a New Delhi hospital last summer, I could better appreciate the burden of infectious disease, especially amongst low-income individuals. With the help of Dr. Ravi and Dr. Amita Gupta, an Infectious Disease professor at Hopkins Medicine, we organized a project focusing on identifying the HIV/TB case burden by administering a comprehensive survey to patients, then addressing the problem through educational programming. In the initial process of our interviews with patients, it became clear that these low-income physical laborers and housewives had poor nutritional diets, nor were they following their treatment schedules. With this understanding we began our educational efforts, creating and distributing pamphlets and flip charts in Telugu that promoted how to eat healthy local foods with cost-constraints, in addition to the importance of adhering to medical treatment schedules. We created similar materials to promote tuberculosis awareness, prevention, and treatment options. Using these resources, clinicians, counselors and staff at the Sai Sudha Hospital and additional sites could teach patients more effectively. With the materials and a little guidance, counselors and staff could have a more substantial impact on patients and hopefully the broader population

While I was in Kakinada, I also learned of a non-profit organization known as the Aids Awareness Group, spear-headed by Dr. Ravi. The primary objective of the organization is to provide testing and antiretroviral drugs, the most effective anti-HIV medicines, to patients who cannot otherwise afford such services. We worked on constructing a website, which is still in the process of being finalized (www.spiderace.com/aag). The free clinic currently provides medicines to over 900 patients living with HIV/AIDS, and is looking to expand the number of treatment centers and awareness efforts.

In addition to the clinical experience and research, my time in Kakinada gave me a chance to learn more about India’s development and how motivated citizens are able to advance a region’s well-being. Kakinada has a population of about 500,000 and is located approximately 500 km east of Hyderabad, one of India’s major IT hubs. When I first arrived, I was immediately stuck by the greenery – hailing from Seattle, I thought I was familiar with environmental beauty, but Kakinada redefined it for me. The landscape is peppered with palm and coconut trees, rice paddies, and huts made of leaves. Yet, the natural beauty is hampered by open-air defecation, dusty settlements, congested streets, and overcrowding. This double standard prevails not only within the physical environment, but also stretches to the political and social landscape that cultivates health care, the economy, and culture. Like much of India, this southeast region’s development faces obstacles in the form of bureaucracy and corruption. Nonetheless, a driven movement of doctors, industrialists (owners of rice mills, fisheries, and other agricultural enterprises), and general citizens are pushing for educational improvement, business development, and health care reform.

Indeed, the Sai Sudha Hospital, run by Dr. Ravi and his wife Dr. Lalitha, along with 70 consultant doctors, nurses, counselors, and staff, is an encouraging example of the power of human passion. Dr. Ravi and his family took me into their home like a son, while the hospital staff welcomed me as a brother; this fundamental human connection was powerful, and allowed me to adapt, grow, and help accomplish our goals, even though I spoke no Telugu going into the summer. For me it is these relationships and personal idiosyncrasies that I will especially value and carry with me in my future endeavors. Observing individuals like Dr. Ravi uphold equanimity in the face of adversity is a moving example of human perseverance and drive. With a healthy sense of adventure and purpose, it is exciting to consider what more can be achieved on a global scale.

The Right Decision

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Name: Mary Vitale

Year: Class of 2011

Hometown: Hampton, NJ

Major: Environmental Engineering

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Two days ago, I came across a list I had made on my computer last year, my senior year in high school.  It was a list of 30 colleges which I could not decide between.  Each school had the aspects I liked and disliked listed next to it, and I had attempted to order the schools depending on overall appeal.  I ended up applying to eleven, hoping fate would let the admissions departments lead me to the correct school.  I ended up getting accepted to most of the schools, and my safety school, which I had barely considered, offered me a lot more money than I expected.

Last spring break was filled with long car rides and plane trips.  I flew down to New Orleans one weekend, and drove south to North Carolina the second weekend.  I was packing in as many college visits as I could and trying to decide which school was the best for my major.  I ended up visiting Hopkins for a third time that year, and finally decided that I would be happiest at Hopkins.

This year, not a day goes by where I doubt my choice.  I wonder how I could have not known Hopkins was the place for me.  I am the happiest here I have ever been, and barely want to leave when the vacations come around.  I love walking around the peaceful, beautiful campus, observing the beauty of the seasons.  In the fall I marveled over the glorified autumn colors of the leaves; in the winter I was comforted by the cozy brick buildings tucked in under a layer of white snow.  I feel so at home walking around the brick paths I rarely want to leave campus.  I feel so lucky to be studying with incredible professors at a selective university, opening the doors of powerful knowledge to me.  (OK, at 9 AM chem lecture I’m not REALLY thinking that, but sometimes when I’m in a contemplating mood I do think about this).  I’ve always said I want to make a difference in this world, and I know I am truly being prepared to do so with my Hopkins education.

The biggest surprise upon coming to Hopkins was the diversity and personality of the student body.  I didn’t pick Hopkins for the social scene; in fact, I picked it for the opposite — I hoped if I was surrounded by smart, intense, pre-meds, I too would feel pressured to study.  Granted, there are those who choose to do nothing but study, but the overall population has an incredible personality.  They are smart, funny, cool, diverse, outgoing people for the most part who know how to get A’s and know how to have fun.  I love my roommate and floor; it can feel like one big family sometimes.  Most of all, I feel like I fit in not because I have to conform to some Abercrombie model like in high school, but because of my interests and traits that make me unique.

As much as I’m not a city person, I’ve also started liking Baltimore a lot more than I thought I would.  I could get an internship over intersession that was just a mile away, and could walk to the polls on election day.  Coming from a very rural area, this is new to me — and I love the convenience.  Everything is less than ten minutes away (not to mention I feel great about reducing my carbon footprint by walking everywhere!)  But when I need to feel at home, I can just step foot on campus and see grass and trees all around me.  I’d never even know I was in Baltimore.

I’m an environmental engineer, and my internship over intersession was really great way to get acquitted with the city of Baltimore.  I worked at the Jones Falls Watershed Association and part of my time there was spent writing a history of the Jones Falls.  I knew a bit of the city’s history by reading James Michener’s Chesapeake, but the history of the city (both from a historical and environmental prospective) is old and rich.  The Jones Falls helped the city become one of the leading milling cities of the world in the 1800s, but eventually the river became disgusting and was buried under the now-Jones Falls expressway, emerging shortly before the Inner Harbor and dumping tons of pollutants into the distraught Chesapeake every year.  Even the Carroll House (located right in the front of campus) and Charles Street work their ways into the history I was reading, and it was very fascinating to look out my window and see the history before me.

As finals draw nearer and nearer (less than two months…) I find myself missing campus already.  I miss New Jersey and my family and friends there, but I know one thing for sure — Hopkins is my new found home, and I’m going to greatly enjoy each of my four years here!

Picture Captions:

Picture One- me outside the dorms enjoying a sunny day.
Picture Two- My California roommate enjoying her first snow experience, with the campus all lit up for winter.
Picture Three-  The Jones Falls alongside its expressway.

Journal Excerpt: Research in South Africa

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Name: Jermaine Myers

Year: Class of 2009

Previous Guest Blog Entries:

April 19, 2007: Journal Excerpt: A Day in the Life, click here.

December 12, 2006: You Think You Know, But You Have No Idea, click here.

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July 14: Today, at Sinikithemba (“We Bring Hope”) HIV Clinic, I saw a girl. She looked not much older than me. She had HIV. It seemed as if the disease had progressed into AIDS, for some of the mostly Xhosa and Zulu patients of Sinikithemba can only afford to take the trek from their homes once the virus has run it course. As I prepared to leave the Clinic, after a morning of shadowing Dr. H, one of the many great doctors at the antiretroviral clinic, she shuffled past me. Emaciated, back bent, for a transitory moment, she looked me directly in the eyes, and I thought I was looking at an older woman. Like all of the people visiting Sinikithemba today, she must have come for her antiretroviral medications. If her experience is at all like the patients seen by Dr. H, she would have been asked about her general health, about any concerns she had, about her adherence to her drug regimen. Then, after a brief cervical exam, her doctor would have prescribed another batch of ARVs. South African doctors (the ones I’ve met so far at least) are so kind, and you can tell they have a genuine interests in their patients’ well-being. Surprisingly, the nurses are given so much more respect than I’ve seen in any American hospital. Maybe this is something Americans can learn from S.A. I am continually learning about South African culture, and the people from McCord Hospital are wonderful.

My journey to Durban, South Africa and to the courtyard of Sinikithemba Clinic began almost a year ago. As the semester waned before my eyes, with Thanksgiving looming ahead, I was hard at work on my application for the Minority Global Health Disparities Research Training (MHIRT) Program. And with only minutes to spare before the application I had worked so diligently on would mean nothing, I ran to the office of the MHIRT liaison, turned my application in, and began to wait.

Flash-forward to Intersession. While visiting my aunts, uncles, cousins and friends in Jamaica, my mother called and told me the great news. I had received a letter. From Hopkins. The School of Nursing. (Open it! Open it!). I had been chosen to go to Durban? South Africa? After doing a lot of explaining (I hadn’t yet told my mother that I had applied for the MHIRT Program), it really dawned on me that I was finally going to Africa. There were two places in the world I wanted to go (on my “check-list-of-things-to-do-before-you-die-type-list”), and Africa was one of them.

Aimed at stemming global health disparities—from HIV/AIDS in South Africa to cardiovascular health in Seoul, Korea—the MHIRT Program is funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and the Fogarty International Center. The most amazing part of this already amazing program, however, is that it is a collaborative effort between seven institutions–the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, JHU School of Medicine, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Winston-Salem University, North Carolina A&T State University and the Leadership Alliance at Brown University. Thus, during the MHIRT program’s week-long orientation at the end of May, I was able to meet individuals, all of whom were older than me, and who had diverse backgrounds in health disparities work. Some were medical students, others were PhD candidates, and still others were soon-to-be graduates of nursing school. And then, then there was me: an undergraduate who really had no clue what he was getting himself into. In fact, although I thought I knew what “health disparities” entailed, before going to South Africa and seeing the healthcare system of that country in action, before standing in that courtyard at Sinikithemba Clinic, and before visiting the various Centres for AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), my myopic view of the world and of healthcare delivery had not quite prepared me for my experiences abroad.

After the blur of Spring semester–and after being vaccinated for Polio, Typhoid, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and given way too much anti-malaria medications—I said goodbye to my family, and headed off to the Land of the Zulu, and former homeland of South Africa’s largest native populations, KwaZulu-Natal. Although all of the MHIRT participants were briefed on what to expect once we arrived in our host countries, I truly had no idea what lay ahead. From Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta, I met up with the other MHIRT participants going to South Africa for our late-night flight to Johannesburg. The journey to our stop-over in Dakar, Senegal seemed like an eternity (I had never flown for sixteen hours before!).

After arriving in Johannesburg, the two groups separated—the two older nursing students went off to (gorgeous) Cape Town and I, and another undergraduate student (from Brown University) took a flight to Durban, the sea-side resort in the shadows of what was once the Zulu Empire. It didn’t really dawn on me that I was in South Africa, that I was in Africa(!), until I heard the first words of IsiZulu and isiXhosa being spoken around me, the clicks of Xhosans catching my attention. Sawubona? Uphila njani? Ngikhona. Wena unjani? And while many of the people I met during those first days knew I was “the visiting American student,” I was kind of proud that a few mistook me for a Zulu Warrior.

As I peeped through the window of my sixth floor apartment my first full morning in South Africa, I knew what my friends meant when they say the country is breath-taking. As I prepared for my first trek up the hill to the University of KwaZulu-Natal (where I worked), South Africa did not seem all that different (not outwardly at least) from Baltimore. Instead of the scenes one often sees on television, Durban (eThekwini)  was quite affluent; there were high-rises, sky-scrapers in the city centre, and this former Zulu stomping-ground definitely lived up to its name of being a hub for tourists during the summer months. (That reminds me—since S.A. is located in the Southern Hemisphere, it was actually winter when we arrived in June. Sometimes, it surprisingly got pretty cold. But I was prepared).

I felt at home. I was enaba. My research mentor, Dr. Busisiwe Ncama of the UKZN School of Nursing, was preparing to start her study on the benefits of integrating HIV-testing services into STI clinic protocols, using the Prince Cyril Zulu Clinic in Durban’s teeming City Centre. And, with her generosity and assistance, I was able to complete preliminary work on the barriers to HIV-testing among people our age (adolescents and those in their early twenties). With one of the world’s highest prevalence rates for HIV-infection, and with countless men, women and children dying each day from AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, I was initially flabbergasted by the numbers I began to find. 33.2 million living with HIV in 2007. 420,000 children under the age of 15 newly-infected. 5% of the sub-Saharan adult population (vs. a still whopping .6% in North America) living with HIV.

Why are people in the developing world dying at a disproportionate rate from these infectious diseases? Why is the rate of tuberculosis resistance so high in countries like these? What factors are contributing to the demise of the Zulu Nation, in South Africa, and innumerable other peoples around the globe? Even after spending 10 weeks in the heart of Africa, even after visiting research centers at the frontlines of the war on AIDS and TB, even after listening to those most afflicted (those infected themselves, and the family members who take care of them) I still do not have a complete answer to these questions. I could posit that stigma and discrimination are a major factor. But, if I have not learned anything else during my stay in S.A, it is that to make assumptions is unwise. America, however, could go a long way with South Africa’s expression of ubuntu (compassion/humanity) and their belief in dignity and respect, ideas that are easily translated across borders.

August 28: Participating in MHIRT has most definitely been a turning point. Where else but Hopkins could I have gotten an opportunity (especially as an undergraduate) to participate in such ground-breaking work. Now, as I pack to go back to JHU, as I think about the past summer, I can’t help buy be excited for what’s to come.

Taking Chances

1

Name: Nian Verzosa

Year: Class of 2010

Hometown: Diamond Bar, CA

Major: Public Health

Favorite Hopkins —: My favorite Hopkins Study Spot is Café Q at the MSE Library. Café Q is located on the top floor of the library and although the area is noisy and filled with commotion as people order smoothies and coffee, the liveliness of the café provides a comfortable atmosphere to catch up on reading or do academic work.

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How does a suburban, southern California girl end up clear across the country at Baltimore City’s Johns Hopkins University? To tell you the truth, I still question why I chose Hopkins instead of a UC near home, but everyday I am here, the clearer I see the answer.

I did not have a strong first impression of Hopkins, probably because when I visited the weather was rainy and humid and I did not like the aged look of the antique, brick buildings. It was very different from the typical sunny California weather and the modernized campuses I was used to back home. I did go out on a limb though, took a chance, and chose to attend this school.

The allure of Hopkins’ excellent Public Health Program did play a part in my decision, but more so, the fact that I wanted “something new.” I never really ventured out of southern California, and thought that a change would help me grow as a person – and it has. Even with only as little experience as a semester in college, I can compare myself from the first day of school to now and am amazed at all the opportunities I seized in college and how those opportunities slowly developed into activities I genuinely enjoy being a part of.

One of these opportunities was to work with Dr. Bill Nelson at the Cancer Building across the Johns Hopkins Hospital. I stumbled upon research on accident when I needed a one credit class to fulfill my credit requirements for the spring semester. My friend suggested a Biomedical Careers and Research class where professors/researches/physicians across the Maryland area came in and lectured for a few hours about their field of interest and how they got involved in their specialties. One of the speakers was Dr. Bill Nelson and he was looking for lab assistant to help with prostate cancer research.

His lab worked to improve diagnostic screening for possible prostate cancer patients and his speech was so interesting I decided to contact him about the position. I figured since Johns Hopkins was one of the most prestigious research institutes world-wide, I should seize the opportunity to explore SOME form of research. Although I did not have much lab experience, I was eager to learn about what research was and if it was a field I wanted to continue. Dr. Nelson was very accommodating and got me started within a week of contacting him.  I’ve been in the research lab for about a month now, and I love it.

I am taking introductory level science courses, and it is amazing to apply the biotechnology unit I learned in class at the laboratory. For anyone interested in doing cancer research, or any other types of research feel free to contact Yang Li <yli44@jhu.edu> who is the TA for the Biological Research and Careers class and can get you information on the speakers and their specialties. I definitely recommend pursuing research opportunities as early as possible because there are so many choices you’re bound to find something that will interest you and the lab applications can really give you a new perspective in your academic courses.

Another area of interest I stumbled upon was pledging for Hopkins one and only multicultural, community service sorority, Delta Xi Phi (DXP). Contrary to the Pan-Hellenic Sororities, which are the big four “typical” social sororities on campus, Delta Xi Phi requires a certain amount of community service hours to be fulfilled and tries hard to incorporate diversity and an open-minded approach in all the programs that we sponsor. I am still in the “pledging process” which means that although I am invited to be a sister there are certain tasks that I need to complete before I can officially wear the DXP Greek Letters and be considered part of the sisterhood rather than an “associate member.” Although DXP is serious about its pledging process, the process is stress free and does not take a lot of time away from academics.

One of our pillars, or goals, is actually to promote the advancement of women through education and collectively we hold education as an important part our sisterhood. The pledging process is designed for associate members to learn about DXP sisterhood and to bond with each sister at an individual level. With only about 25 members, its easy to forge a friendship with each of the girls and we all try to incorporate our five pillars in everything we do. DXP’s pillars are Sisterhood, Friendship, Community Service, Multiculturalism, and Advancement of Women through High Education. I never thought I’d join a sorority but through DXP I’ve learned to grow socially as a person by meeting people I would have never met otherwise and to grow intellectually by learning about each sister’s unique background.

Take chances, even if it’s on a whim, and utilize opportunities you never thought you’d ever be interested in because college is about discovering and reinventing yourself and what better way then to venture on unfamiliar ground?