It’s been a busy two weeks! I finally made it to the beach this year and it will not be the last! A group of the new Global Health cohort wanted to visit the golden coast and we could not have picked a better day. Clear skies with a slight nip in the air provided the proper person-to-beach proportion. There were a few naked Europeans wading and inner city kids who didn’t know what to do with the water but over all it was simply a calm in the midst of a busy quarter.

With midterms last week and finishing up my telemarker job for the School of Allied Health (I hate calling and asking for money!), I was ready for that extra hour that daylight savings provided. Even then, Sunday was crazy busy with our quarterly My Campus event. This event focuses on minority youth in the local inland empire, exposing them to the health science professions, and mentoring them. This quarter was uniquely great due to the fact that the School of Public Health was featured. Since I am a Student Association Representative and I work for our Community-Academic Partners in Service (CAPS), I was recruited to lead out in our Global Health Booth.

As the high school students rotated around to the different booths, we had many of them very interested in Global health. The students’ aspirations varied from those who didn’t want to graduate from high school to others who were dead set on becoming neurosurgeons. Thankfully, most students seemed very interested in global health and what it could do for them. They were thrilled to know how Global Health could be added on to their current dreams of physical therapy, nursing, medicine, dentistry, or business. Later in the program, there was a “speed networking” time and most of the students had a great deal more questions on how they could incorporate Global Health into their lives.

It is encouraging to see that so many people are interested in Global Health. The most important thing that I wanted these students to realize is that that Global Health is not so much a degree as it is a life choice. A Global Health Professional is simply someone who works with a variety of cultures in some aspect of the health field. Research based or clinical practice, it all comes down to a life of service and a drive to work in a culturally aware environment.