Caught in Between

Sometimes I wake up in Geneva and think I’m still dreaming. Perhaps it’s because for months I knew I was going to be in Switzerland for the semester and so it sometimes feels weird that I’m finally here. However, I don’t think that’s entirely the reason why I feel like I’m dreaming because as I go through out my day I keep thinking about how I must still be dreaming. It must be because Switzerland often seems like a giant fairytale in itself so I feel as though I’m just one of many characters in a fairytale entitled Switzerland, or Suisse, or Svizzera, or Schweiz, or however you say Switzerland
in Rumantsch.

This country oftentimes doesn’t make sense to me. In comparison to Brazil, it really doesn’t make sense. And sometimes it makes too much sense that it doesn’t make sense. For example: the crosswalk button when pressed will actually change the stoplight to red and backup traffic, the public transportation system is run on an honor system, the trains from city to city never fill up and are always exactly on time and exactly the same price, the streets are not filled-up with chain restaurants (nor trash) and are instead filled up with local chocolate stores, and for some reason it’s practical for nearly all advertisements to be for watches.

Other times I just stop and look around and feel as though I’m in a fairytale setting: kids are free to play on the streets, the alps are on the horizon, the buildings are centuries old, one of my classes is taught entirely by World Health Organization lecturers, etc.

This fairytale that I am in was definitely not written by me. In my fairytale I wouldn’t have gotten a stomach flu last week (nor have passed it onto my roommate), nor blanked on a French test, nor had hundreds of readings and French verbs sent my way. If I wrote the fairytale my closest friends and family would be here (my dad would have definitely gotten to see the awesome Swiss Transport Museum I went to yesterday, my mom would have walked along the lake with me, and Matt would have shared fondue…), the world news would not be as depressing as it is, and this country would not speak 8,942 languages and dialects (a slight exaggeration), and the prices would not be so, so high (although $ may be what runs the fairytale). And so maybe Switzerland is not the perfect fairytale, but it’s pretty darn close to it.

Next blog: A little about my accelerated six-week classes, my internship starting in March, snowshoeing on my 21^st birthday weekend, and spring break plans. Stay tuned!

Photographs: 1, 3, 4: Luzern, Switzerland

Photographs 2: The “beach” on Lake Geneva or Lac Léman (taken on my morning run).

I have been fortunate for the public health major at Johns Hopkins. In high school I thought that picking a major would be one of the biggest challenges that I would face in college. I knew I wanted a smaller school and an interdisciplinary major. However, I found that those two “wants” were sometimes hard to find within a school. Johns Hopkins has given me that combination. In the United States, there is a recent shift in demand by students for a more interdisciplinary education. And a shift for majors that are more “relevant” to the real world. As a result there has been a national shift in curriculum to an interdisciplinary approach. I am definitely one of those students who needed an interdisciplinary major.

I would like to think that Johns Hopkins is at the forefront of this shift and that it shows. The three most popular majors on the Homewood campus are all interdisciplinary: public health, international studies, and neuroscience. And another interdisciplinary major was just introduced that I think will jump in popularity in the coming years: global environmental change and sustainability.

For the case of simplicity, I’ve broken up this blog into answers to two sections…

What does the public health major give its students?

Well the easiest way to answer this question is to check out the public health major checklist (click here: http://www.jhu.edu/advising/checklists.html), since by far the greatest thing the major gives is a great range of courses. You’ll notice that the public health major is divided into two tracks natural sciences and social sciences. About two-thirds of public health majors are natural sciences majors. Most natural science public health majors attend on applying to medical school (or at one point thought they wanted to go to medical school…). However, there are other natural sciences major that do not attend to go to medical school and just have more of a science-mind. For me, I’m a social sciences public health major.

All public health majors are united by four public health classes: The Environment and Your Health, Fundamentals of Health Policy and Management, Biostatistics in Public Health, and Fundamental of Epidemiology. These courses give a general understanding of four key areas of public health. They’re also a great place to meet other public health majors and to just get a general understanding of what public health is and what it entails. Other requirements that both majors take are Biology and Calculus. The other thing that unites public health majors is the requirement that at least 15 units of courses (equal to 10 Homewood credits) must be taken at the Bloomberg School of Public Health during your senior year. Most older public health majors I have talked to LOVE these courses and say that despite the shuttle ride to the other campus, that these courses are often their favorite classes. This is because you can take classes that are less general and more particular to your interest in public health, you can a feel for what graduate school is like, and you are surrounded by other students in your courses who are usually much older with tons of experience. Seriously, I’m psyched for my next semester when I get to take classes there. Public health majors—both natural and social sciences—are also united with the opportunity to do a rather long honors thesis if they have a GPA of 3.3 within their major. The public health major also gives its students the opportunity to apply to a one-year accelerated MHS (Masters in Health Sciences) in Epidemiology (just added this year), Environmental Health, and Mental Health. Students can apply for these masters at the end of their junior year.

So what sets natural sciences apart from social sciences? You’ll see on the checklist that social sciences majors pick two disciplines. Three courses from one department in Group A (Anthropology, History, Psychology, Sociology, or Africana Studies. And three courses from one department in Group B (Economics, History of Sci/Med/Tech, Political Science, and Geography & Environmental Engineering). Along with these social sciences courses you take three social sciences electives.

Personally, my two emphases are Sociology and Geography & Environmental Engineering. I picked these two simply because the classes I was most interested in happened to be within these two areas. You begin to realize through taking these classes that health can be tied into so many departments within the Homewood campus and begin to develop a better perspective of health. Sociology in particular has made me question how we think of health within a society.

Public health academic advising is also great. We have three full-time academic advisers located in the Greenhouse who are all very wiling to help you (and calm you down) about thinking about the scary future. You’ll have to meet with them every semester to figure out the schedule, but they are always willing to meet throughout the semester whether its to discuss recommendations or a class that you may be struggling in. I’ve had a great experience with my adviser. The public health studies program also sends us weekly newsletters of public health opportunities and announcements to keep all the majors in the loop. And recently they created a LinkedIn group to keep us connected with alumni.

I hope by now you can tell that the social sciences public health major is truly interdisciplinary. There is no public health department simply because the professors I take classes from are coming from all different areas of the campus. I’ve really never hated a required class that I’ve had to taken. And with so few required classes and so many options within emphases, I actually have had a harder time deciding limiting my choices each semester.

What the public health major has done for me?

Opportunities. (Is the easy one word answer.)

But seriously…when I visited colleges I kept telling my mom that I did not want a school to define who I was. I don’t know why I was so hesitant about this since now I realize that every school will shape you in someway. I have a hunch that public health will follow me into my career; even though by no means does everyone end up going into the field they majored in during their undergraduate years. Taking these courses has made me question how countries develop, the best “paths” for countries to develop in, and why some people are more unhealthy than others and what social forces may be at work to have done this, etc.

I’ve been amazed by where the public health major has taken me.

I spent my freshman year taking public health classes and figuring out whether or not that the major was right for me. Over that summer I tried to get my foot in the door of public health by interning at my local health department working on the CHIP project and also interning at a maternal health consortium. During the fall of my sophomore year I started working at the Center for a Livable Future as a research assistant on work study. It was here that I started learning about food systems in the United States. I absolutely love my job at the Center for a Livable Future and love being surrounded people that are so committed to fixing modern agriculture. During my summer before junior year I decided to get more involved with epidemiology and went on a grant-sponsored trip that I got through the public health studies program in Vitoria, Brazil. I worked on an HIV/TB co-infection study that a Hopkins professor was working on there.  Into the fall I decided to do for-credit research on TB research with the same professor on a literary review of TB/smoking articles.  And where am I now? Studying abroad in Geneva, Switzerland on a Boston University program where I not only get to take some public health classes (and French), but I also get to intern at the Worl Health Organization and work on the Global Health Burden report from March until the end of the May. And I’m not even done with my major!!!! Who knows what’s next…

Additionally I’ve gotten involved in extra-curriculars. There are a lot of public health groups on campus like Public Health Student Forum, Project Health, and Epidemic Proportions.  Check out the link to the public health program below to read about these groups. I was co-president of Public Health Student Forum in the fall and hopefully will continue next fall—currently our group runs a Public Health Awareness Week and is now planning for Johns Hopkins’ first undergraduate conference in public health that’s debuting in April.

My advice is just to explore. Especially explore the opportunities that the Bloomberg School of Public Health has to offer. So many professors are looking for undergraduate help and love to share their passion for public health with others.

Lastly, the public health major has given me some of my best friends. Although I definitely still have friends in other majors, I’ve realized that some of my best friends are public health majors. Many of us just “click” because we have similar interests.

So you ask me what I plan to do in the future? Well I still don’t really know. My opportunities have helped me narrow things down, but all I really know is international public health is my love.

I should also mention that public health has a newly updated spiffy website: http://krieger.jhu.edu/publichealth/

Student Organization Name: Hopkins Christian Fellowship

Category of Group: Religious

Your Name: Dominique Duval

Your Year: c/o 2012

Your Hometown: Baltimore, MD

Your Position : Freshman Coordinator
******************************************************************************************************************

Hopkins Christian Fellowship (HCF) is my favorite group here, and most of my closest friends are in it. And no this blog won’t be preachy or anything, so no worries! We get a decent amount of questions about religious groups on campus so I thought I’d share my experience with one.

If you choose to be affiliated with a religion or faith, there are many groups at Hopkins to accommodate that. Since I am a Christian, when I came here, I naturally scouted out the groups…and to my chagrin I found that there were annoyingly a bajillion Christian groups on campus. HCF caught my eye specifically because there was free food. :) And it was a non denominational group with no religious requirements whatsoever…and it’s all history from there. In addition to Christians, HCF has individuals who choose to identify themselves as atheist or agnostic. And people of other faiths are welcome to and have attended our meetings.

In the beginning of the year HCF has a week of free food events and info sessions to get students who may be interested more interested. We call it “New Student Outreach.” We also work with the Veritas Forum, which hosts theologists/Christian apologists. And we usually get a lotttttttttt of students to come out so that’s good.

This week, HCF is co hosting an event that will have a Biochemist and an Astronomer talking about Christianity as it relates to their studies.
I just love that HCF is such an open community, but with clear objectives and goals. It also really focuses on community outreach, so for those who aren’t so into the faith aspect of the group, there are a lot of community service events that are separate from the religious meetings. Additionally, we have this thing called “Spring Break Plunge” where those who don’t want to go home over spring break (or can’t) stay in Baltimore and live in a house in Southwest Baltimore, and do a different service project each day. There is a longer version of Spring Break Plunge that occurs during the summer, called the Baltimore Urban Program. And of course I can’t forget the retreats we have twice a year! They are beautiful opportunities to get off campus to go to a serene campsite in eastern Maryland.

We meet each Wednesday at a large group meeting, and there are several small Bible studies for those who wish to come. We have a President, vice president, prayer team, Bible study team, and events team (that puts on cool stuff like movies…yes normal movies like Star Wars and Batman, we’re not stiffs..and lots of other events ). My specific position deals with focusing on freshmen, and I love it because they remind me of the newness and excitement that came with being one. Their concerns were/are mine, and I was put into this position because of my experiences and my ability to communicate things. I love it!

So, like I said before, there are many religious groups on campus that will suit your needs…but HCF caught my eye in the beginning and I am definitely here to stay!

Our retreat site..amazing

I think one of my favorite things about Hopkins is how involved the student body is, both in terms of on campus activities, and more importantly, in the city of Baltimore as a whole. None of my friends here are simply students; they are also presidents of clubs, captains, RA’s, athletes, etc. Since I’ve arrived on campus last September I’ve really tried to branch out, and try things that I never would have done at home. To that end, I’ve written for the newspaper, written a real resume, blogged (obviously), joined a sorority, tutored at a Baltimore City high school, trained for and run a half marathon, done internships, hosted overnights, gotten a job, and more that I’ve certainly forgotten

I think I’m tied for my favorite on-campus activities. I love being in a sorority, and frankly that would be the easiest to write about…as no other SAAB members are in Phi Mu, they’d be pretty unlikely to blog about it. I think I’ll save this for after rush though, when I know a bit more about the process. The other activity I really enjoy, however, is tutoring. I’ll hedge my bets and hope no one else writes about tutoring, and go for that one.

I am involved in the COACH program, which stands for College Opportunity and Career Help. This program is run through the Greater Homewood Community Corporation, just across the street from Hopkins. I got involved at the start of freshman year, with the program’s pilot year in Baltimore, and I’ve really enjoyed it.

COACH tutors work with small groups of high school seniors and juniors to help them handle the daunting task of applying to college. We worked on personal statements, essays, SAT prep, organization, financial aid applications, and then when March rolled around, deciding where to actually go!

The results of this program have been fantastic, and the group at Mergenthaler High School (where I tutored) had students accepted to Towson, UMD at College Park, Penn State, and Hopkins, just to name a few. It was really gratifying to see these students succeed, but I found the best part of the program was getting to know the girls in my group, learning about their lives and experiences, and their ambitions. Last year I was only a year older (at most) than these girls; it was so easy to relate to them.

It was incredibly inspiring to see these amazing young men and women overcome financial and personal obstacles to realize their academic ambitions. I was so impressed by how sure they were of their plans—I had girls in my group who wanted to be preschool teachers, engineers, doctors, and soldiers—and how hard they had worked to get to that point.

From the Greater Homewood website…

Last year fifteen Johns Hopkins University volunteers worked with over 150 students in area high schools to increase college applications and acceptance rates. Results from our work at Baltimore City College, Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School, and
Western High School are available here. COACH volunteers helped students locate scholarships that amounted to $588,571 combined.

I really enjoy being able to get off campus into Baltimore and see what the rest of the city is like. As much as I do love Hopkins, and the “oasis” feel of the campus, I can’t imagine living there for four years and not giving back to the community and city somehow. The COACH program is just one of the many programs on campus that establishes a direct link between Hopkins students and Baltimoreans, but it’s one of the few that works in a high school setting. I really enjoy being able to relate and offer relevant advice to the students I work with.

Everyone at Hopkins has that one activity they really love, and that is what COACH is for me. Though it’s a new(ish) program at Hopkins, I think it is one that will become much more prominent on campus in the next few years, and I can’t wait to see that happen!

I’ll be posting another blog in the next week or so about Intersession, where I’ve been for the past two weeks, and my plans for the coming semester! Hope everyone’s having a great New Year so far!

-Lauren

P.s. I’ve just found out that if you go to the website, a lovely picture of me and one of my tutees pops up! She’s now busy being fabulous at Towson University, doing ROTC and planning her amazing future.

I’m currently stranded in the New Orleans airport, watching and laughing as the departure time on my flight back home moves further and further away. I’ve now got about five hours to kill, which, coupled with the airport’s free wireless, has given me the perfect opportunity to blog about my winter break.

I’m actually looking at train tickets back to Hopkins as I write this, so if Amtrak works with me and my last minute planning, I should be back to Baltimore in less than 24 hours. This break has gone incredibly fast, in part because it’s a full three weeks shorter than winter break freshman year (I signed up for Intersession) and in part because I’ve been so busy.

For the past five days, I’ve been in New Orleans with my family. We’d never been here before and it turned out to be a fabulous trip. We stayed just outside the French Quarter, so we got to see the craziness of Bourbon Street without actually having to listen to it round the clock–my parents were a bit appalled, but I think 2 years of college desensitized me a bit, and Bourbon just seemed like a really big, spread out frat party with a lot more adults.

I was able to cross three states off of the travel list–on Tuesday we drove through Mississippi, Alabama (which I slept through) and rural Louisiana. We visited quite a few interesting places that I certainly wouldn’t have been able to find “up North.” I also got to visit my roommate from Hopkins, Laura, who was staying with family just north of New Orleans. It was great to be able to see her and her family, and good to hear their input on what we had to see in New Orleans.

Lovely New Orleans.

Now that winter break is almost officially over, I’m getting excited for the spring. While in New Orleans , I was living almost internet free, just relying on emails coming through to my phone, but I got word while I was there that I got an interview for an internship I’m really excited about! I have a great class schedule coming in the spring, and hopefully I’ll be able to get some work experience off campus as well, which will be a nice change of pace. Over break I’ve had about 10 people try to convince me to study abroad in South Africa, and I saw the equally convincing “Invictus” (so so good, and great accents) so a big part of my spring will be occupied by trying to sort out study abroad plans for the fall semester of this year.

It seems I’m sitting in the airport all afternoon because of some pretty serious snow at home, shutting down parts of Newark airport, so at least there’s still plenty of winter weather left! I’m hoping for some snow in Baltimore as well, maybe even a snow day or two. I’m pretty optimistic.

Hope everyone had a great New Year’s, and a wonderful holiday season, HAPPY 2010!

-Lauren B.