Today was officially my last day of my last summer vacation. Tomorrow I start the second and last year of my Master of Public Health program. Next summer, prayerfully, I will be working as a public health practitioner somewhere. And I’ll be really grateful for that opportunity. But today, I was just a little sad about that. This whole week, I’ve been sad thinking about today.

I want to do meaningful work. I want to accomplish great things. I want to live in my purpose every day. I just…I wanted summer to last a little bit longer. So I wasn’t particularly productive today. I’ll be productive tomorrow. I didn’t make a whole lot of preparations for the year ahead today. I’ll do that tomorrow. I didn’t put on my grown up clothes. I’ll have to do that tomorrow. Instead, I got in my car and drove down the street, around the corner, down the big hill on the narrow back road, to the park. And I stood in the sun. I watched the little boys suit up in their tiny gear and charge the field for their football game. I watched the community drive up, park their cars, and go sit out in the sun to watch their boys play. And it lifted my spirits. Today, I was just a kid enjoying summer vacation in my play clothes.

And now, it’s tomorrow. I should have been asleep already. A 10:00 class awaits me and I have no clue what I’m wearing. But it’s the last night of summer vacation. So I’ll figure it out in the morning. In the morning, God-willing, I’ll wake up and put on my business casual. I’ll grab my planner, my laptop, my water bottle, and I’ll start the last year of my formal education like the fake grown up I am. But tonight, I’m happy I stayed up past 12, like the big kid I am lol. Goodbye, summer.  

Year One Done

I've completed my first year at Emory Rollins School of Public Health. My papers are turned in, group projects completed, finals taken, and I'm just waiting for my grades to roll in. I think I did alright. Not as well as first semester, but I probably got A's and B's, nonetheless. I'll take it.
It's time to look forward to the summer and the school year to come. In about three weeks, I'll be heading to Cleveland to work with the Cleveland Clinic for my 200+ hour practicum. I'm excited but I'm not rushing because I don't know what actually awaits me (there's been no concrete word on funding yet! *prays*). I'm hoping to really start working in a public health practitioner's role. I want to get an understanding of what someone with my degree would do. That will give me some idea of what opportunities I should be seeking come graduation, in almost exactly a year.
I also have to start thinking about what I'm going to do for my Program Planning Capstone, the big culminating project of my MPH. The Lord will have to lead and guide, as always.
My walk with the Lord is not what it used to/should be. That worries me because I know I cannot achieve my dreams without Him. I cannot be successful without Him. God is the architect of my dreams. He started planning for them long before I was even born. I need to get in touch with that reality again. Because I can do nothing great, I can be nothing great without my Architect.
The vision must come to fruition. But I don't know how to go about doing it. Lead me, oh Lord, lead me.

"Lead me. Guide me, along the way.
For if You lead me I cannot stray.
Lord, let me walk each day with thee.
Lead me, oh Lord, lead me."

     It's the start of my second semester at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. My vision for my career future shifts and settles constantly but I do know that I still want to work for the less fortunate. I want to ensure that they have a better quality of life, the best quality of life possible. I love my school. It's a place where people who are passionate about the things I'm passionate about come together to learn and to teach. Already my worldview and my vision has expanded from what I've learned in and outside of the classrooms of Rollins. I really want my career to be about ministry and that's not necessarily something I'm going to learn about at school. That's a matter of prayer. I need God to integrate my career and ministry so that they are irreversibly intertwined. I trust God will do that. That's a prayer I'm confident He wants to answer.
     I'm currently working on/praying about a summer practicum with Cleveland Clinic. They have excellent medical facilities, provide excellent healthcare, and are also really interested in outreach. I love that. There's a project they've recently started working on that would focus on getting the residents of one of the lower income communities that one of Cleveland Clinic's hospitals is located in to come in for cancer screenings earlier. Most people who come into that hospital and are diagnosed with cancer are found to be at stages 3 or 4. At that point, there isn't much healthcare professionals can do for them. So, they're working on ameliorating that problem. That's right up my alley. That's the kind of stuff I want to get into. This would be a great opportunity for me! All that stands between me and that internship/practicum is funding.
     I'll be back to let you know what happens! I'm off to do schoolwork...yay.