A long overdue update and a new blog
I can't believe it's been more than a year since I've last posted here. I'm really not sure if it feels like more or less time has passed. So much has gone on, and I'm sorry for leaving my livejournal here to languish for so long in that period of activity, but I just wanted to come back and bring everyone up to date on the goings on in Sam Land. This one is especially for leilay, since she dared me to post an update, but I totally flaked out on her. (It's been so long I forgot how to do the lj user= thing. I had to copy and paste it from another post!)
So since we last spoke, I was in a relationship with a wonderful girl named Bonni. I loved her and enjoyed my time in her company for about a year and a half, maybe two years. We've since broken up and gone our separate ways, but it was memorable and there are some private postings on LJ on the subject that I've spent the last few moments happily reliving.
I've finished my undergraduate work and graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Anthropology at the end of the Fall semester of 2008. I started out as a biology major, but I switched after taking a few anthropology classes. After meeting Dr. Jackson, my current mentor, things were set in stone. I really enjoyed my time studying anthropology, which is more than I can say for most of my time in biology. To be fair, however, having finished a pathogenic microbiology not too long ago and having enjoyed it, I think my maturity level had no small role in it all, which is slightly embarrassing to admit. Another reason I switched to Anthropology was so I could graduate in a reasonable amount of time, as opposed to spending another year finishing a biology degree. That having been said, if I could do it again, I would probably take that extra year to minor in public health and get my pre-med program on paper. Nevertheless, I do not regret my choice in studying anthropology, a course of study that to me, felt like being at home.
After I graduated, I tried to move into public health. I had studied the interactions of humans and disease in anthropology, and public health is a very sociological field, so I did not and still do not see the shift as very extreme, but On paper, it's a bit different. I wound up working for a newly hired professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health named Dr. Haider and I spent about 7 months working with him on various public health issues from a competitive grant proposal from the CDC on pandemic flu preparation, to editing articles on the diffusion of innovations. I even got to work on program development with the formation of a global health graduate certificate program. Overall, my experience with Dr. Haider was inspirational. I got to work with the Maryland Department of Health, the pandemic flu preparedness program, and see Hans Rosling give one of his famous lectures at the Swedish Embassy.
During that time, I also applied to schools of public health. I put a lot of my hopes into the University of Maryland's newly founded school of public health. It was a mistake, and I should have applied to far more schools than I did. I also came to the belief that I need more field experience, which brings me to where I am now.
On September 10th, I'm leaving for a public health internship at the University of Buea in Cameroon to work with pregnant women with HIV and possibly malaria. I've got to admit that I'm not as excited as I think I should be, and I'm a little perplexed by it. That doesn't mean that I'm not looking forward to this internship. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm eager to discover it. Along the way, I hope to document as much as I can. I'm not sure how much internet access I will have, but there are internet cafes in Buea and the University should have some computers with internet access. I'll be using those opportunities to update my blog: http://sameroon.blogspot.com/
Oh, also: my flight into Cameroon takes 3 days (no, I'm serious. I leave sept 10 and arrive in Cameroon sept 12) so if any of you have suggestions on good books or songs, feel free to send them my way.
Thanks guys! I hope to keep in touch. Useko! See Yeeso!
P.S. There's some good stuff in here that I might use in the Sameroon blog! :P
So since we last spoke, I was in a relationship with a wonderful girl named Bonni. I loved her and enjoyed my time in her company for about a year and a half, maybe two years. We've since broken up and gone our separate ways, but it was memorable and there are some private postings on LJ on the subject that I've spent the last few moments happily reliving.
I've finished my undergraduate work and graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Anthropology at the end of the Fall semester of 2008. I started out as a biology major, but I switched after taking a few anthropology classes. After meeting Dr. Jackson, my current mentor, things were set in stone. I really enjoyed my time studying anthropology, which is more than I can say for most of my time in biology. To be fair, however, having finished a pathogenic microbiology not too long ago and having enjoyed it, I think my maturity level had no small role in it all, which is slightly embarrassing to admit. Another reason I switched to Anthropology was so I could graduate in a reasonable amount of time, as opposed to spending another year finishing a biology degree. That having been said, if I could do it again, I would probably take that extra year to minor in public health and get my pre-med program on paper. Nevertheless, I do not regret my choice in studying anthropology, a course of study that to me, felt like being at home.
After I graduated, I tried to move into public health. I had studied the interactions of humans and disease in anthropology, and public health is a very sociological field, so I did not and still do not see the shift as very extreme, but On paper, it's a bit different. I wound up working for a newly hired professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health named Dr. Haider and I spent about 7 months working with him on various public health issues from a competitive grant proposal from the CDC on pandemic flu preparation, to editing articles on the diffusion of innovations. I even got to work on program development with the formation of a global health graduate certificate program. Overall, my experience with Dr. Haider was inspirational. I got to work with the Maryland Department of Health, the pandemic flu preparedness program, and see Hans Rosling give one of his famous lectures at the Swedish Embassy.
During that time, I also applied to schools of public health. I put a lot of my hopes into the University of Maryland's newly founded school of public health. It was a mistake, and I should have applied to far more schools than I did. I also came to the belief that I need more field experience, which brings me to where I am now.
On September 10th, I'm leaving for a public health internship at the University of Buea in Cameroon to work with pregnant women with HIV and possibly malaria. I've got to admit that I'm not as excited as I think I should be, and I'm a little perplexed by it. That doesn't mean that I'm not looking forward to this internship. I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm eager to discover it. Along the way, I hope to document as much as I can. I'm not sure how much internet access I will have, but there are internet cafes in Buea and the University should have some computers with internet access. I'll be using those opportunities to update my blog: http://sameroon.blogspot.com/
Oh, also: my flight into Cameroon takes 3 days (no, I'm serious. I leave sept 10 and arrive in Cameroon sept 12) so if any of you have suggestions on good books or songs, feel free to send them my way.
Thanks guys! I hope to keep in touch. Useko! See Yeeso!
P.S. There's some good stuff in here that I might use in the Sameroon blog! :P