Opportunities Abound

Ine

Once upon a time, I said I would never blog.

Then before coming to UM I worked in Uganda. After much prodding from my friends, I reluctantly decided to blog about my experiences. I wrote a total of 3 posts before giving up.

I’ve always shied away from calling myself a writer for fear of what expectations that would bring. Not that blogging qualifies me as a writer. (What is that internet meme again? You’re not an artist or a critic. You just have internet access.) But the opportunity to write about my experiences at UM proved irresistible. So, I’m giving this blogging business another chance.

I’m coming off a summer internship in Recife, Brazil thanks to the generosity of the Global Health Initiative at SPH, the International Institute Fellowship, and my own department. Everyone who has met me knows I’m anti-snow, anti-cold, anti-everything that is not next to a beach (except for apparently UM). So the transition back to life in landlocked Ann Arbor has been slow.

However, upon arrival I’ve found that once again I have to remind myself that I cannot do everything. University of Michigan is a place in which opportunities abound. Last year I was taking about 19 units a semester. This semester I promised myself I’d take 12 or 13. Here I am in week two with 16.5.

I also promised myself I’d only focus on the Health Policy Student Association, but I find myself eyeing the International Policy Student Association at the Ford Public Policy School, the Emerging Markets Club at the Ross Business School, and the newly launched Maternal and Child Health Student Association here at SPH.

Last year, I worked with Professor Hutton doing cost-effectiveness research in collaboration with researchers at Stanford University which allowed me the amazing opportunity to present our work at the Biennial Society for Medical Decision Making European Meeting in June. Just as I was e-mailing Professor Hutton to arrange a meeting about our upcoming projects, a professor e-mailed me asking if I’d be interested in assisting with another research project. Naturally, I said….yes, because according to
Thought Catalog, “saying no to things is really hard in your twenties”.

So, I guess this blog will be about balancing my desire to pursue all my interests at UM, while learning to be selective since I can’t do it all at once, of course unless I never want to sleep again.

But I have to go now –HMP’s intramural soccer team has practice and OUTbreak has a meeting…at the same time.