It’s been a month since I left our Global Health Corps training institute at Yale, and I still have trouble describing the experience to my family and friends. It is really difficult to talk about without coming up with trite, meaningless phrases: “It was so wonderful.” “It was so inspiring.” “I met so many incredibly fascinating and accomplished people.” Or perhaps the most pedestrian, yet definitely the most true to my Southern roots—“Y’all, that was awesome!”
Sure, all of these things are true. But the GHC training has been so much more than that. It has completely changed my outlook on international development and personal thoughts about working in global health. It’s caused a paradigm shift.
Throughout my young career as a public health professional, I have had plenty of lofty thoughts; Thoughts that, frankly, scared me. Thoughts that frequently changed, but usually came back to something like this: Everyone, regardless of situation, should have the same kind of health care that I take for granted (and often don’t even utilize).
I came into this fellowship with the idea that health is a human right. It’s one of the mantras of GHC—and one of the main ideas that drew me to the program, but these lofty thoughts had long been squelched by fears: How am I possibly qualified to do this work? How to begin? What does “health equity”—at its core— actually mean?
I was even afraid to talk about health equity out loud. [That’s something that people read about in Paul Farmer essays, not something that a normal person like me could actually build a career around, right?] But within a few hours of arriving in New Haven, I discovered that there are a lot of other people out there with the same ideals. People from every corner of the globe. People who are not afraid to stick their necks out to stand up for what they believe is right. Idealists like me, but pragmatic idealists. Being a part of this family of GHC fellows has made me realize that it is ok to dream big.
While still in New Haven, I told one of my closest friends from grad school how crazy all of this seemed to me. “It’s like 105 other people who get me in the same way you do.” And, while I’ve had incredible relationships, both personal and professional, my whole life, this is clearly something different.
I know that everything is not going to go smoothly all of the time. There will be highs and lows. After all, It’s a job; its work—and it’s incredibly difficult work, at that. But I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am where I am supposed to be right now. I also know that this community will be here to celebrate with me on the mountaintops and help me up out of the valleys.
