“Home” is a relative term

While packing for our cruise, it hit me how crazy Kate and I probably appear to someone living in

Our first stop after our cruise left Miami was the Grand Cayman Islands, south of Cuba.

the United States. We had to be a handful of people leaving the Caribbean (actually, more like relocating) to start our vacation. Nevertheless, even as term 2 of my master’s program had just ended, I couldn’t  quite desert the public-health-tinted lenses with which I was learning the view the world through. Driving through Belize and through the island of Roatan, Honduras, I couldn’t help but to catch sight of the public health campaigns each country had devised in order to promulgate healthier behaviors. I also could not help to evaluate the range of development.

How did each region filter their water? Did each region have access to internet, broadcasts, and other forms of acquiring information? Were the tour guides that were helping us zip-line or climb the Mayan ruins aware of occupational hazards? Of course, an interest in the answers of these questions can be piqued regardless of one’s involvement in the field of public health. However, it just goes to show that you can take the student out of the public health forum, but you can’t take the principles learned out of the student. That probably goes for all healthcare specialties. What you learn haunts you for life.

Gimme an “M!” Gimme a “P!”

Well, it’s official! I’ve earned the “M” and “P” of my graduate program. Now I’m just waiting for that elusive “H” so that I can wear the trio of letters after my name and bear all the responsibilities that accompany it. Term 2 was a whirlwind of papers, learning how to critically analyze, and setting ourselves a foundation for the capstone, which simply is the culmination of our graduate degrees, as we try to apply all that we’ve learned. Even though this term was longer than last term, it feels like I just started. The stress only got worse. Tensions escalated. I think I can speak on behalf of my classmates to say that we definitely felt the pressure to define what our niche was and what was important for each one of us to explore in the the plight to improve the quality of life for those around us, especially in choosing a capstone. So here’s how classes went this term: