Student SPHere 2008-09

In an attempt to wimp out of as much Minnesota winter as possible, I spent from about November (OK, maybe October) onward on a quest to discover the least painful way to get from my parking lot at the U to the Mayo building.

I experimented with zipping up the hood, pulling the hands into the sleeves and booking it as quickly and directly as possible. Too cold.

I tried tunneling through Moos. Too confusing. And depressing underground. And HOT with all my snow gear.

One day, realizing it was the absolute closest big building to the parking lot, I busted into the hospital and figured I’d find myself to class in Mayo somehow. And I did. And it wasn’t confusing. Or cold. Or hot. Or underground. So I adopted that as my route.

One day this week, as I went through the giant revolving door, waved at the valet parking guys, smiled at the front desk attendant and said hi to the gift shop clerk, I realized something: It’s not winter anymore. It was 82 degrees yesterday. The outdoor route from parking to Mayo is much shorter than trekking through the hospital. Why am I still doing it?

Habit, probably, to some degree. But when I really thought about it, I had a dorky revelation. I like the hospital! I like the people! I like the patients! And I haven’t had enough of that in my life lately.

I am absolutely a people person. I have been told more than once that there’s just something about me that makes all kinds of people want to tell me their life stories. Trust me, it’s not always a good thing. Sure, it’s great in the journalistic part of my life – but, um, think for a second about when I’m stuck in the window seat on a plane with a 60-something couple who just must tell me every detail of their son’s destination wedding, a person I don’t recognize from my hometown wanting to catch me up on small-town gossip or a sleep-meds-and-alcohol-mixing soldier returning from a deployment who probably violated many, many confidentiality rules.

But I won’t lie, I even enjoyed (a small part of) those conversations because I just love people. So I go through the hospital a few times a week with a big grin on my face, and people grin back. I see a lot of stuff that one might not grin at – especially because it’s also a children’s hospital – but really, if those kids and their families need anything, it’s a smile.

Yesterday during my little smile parade, I realized how much I miss working directly with people. I’m loving my public health program and the opportunity that gives me to affect change on a higher level, from that upstream perspective. I think ultimately that’s where I want to be.

But without knowing, I think I’ve been reflecting a lot this semester and realizing that I can’t let go of the direct contact with people this easily. It keeps me grounded, reminds me why I’m doing what I’m doing and makes me smile – all of which are absolutely critical, I think, to be successful.

When I meet with kids and their families through Make-A-Wish (where I volunteer), I have a very distinct sense of satisfaction of helping that child and that family in that moment, and I think that’s something I need more of in my life right now.

Funny how it took me a year of loving population-level studies and work to realize how much I love working with people one-on-one. But I’m glad I realized it! I’m going to spend the summer figuring out how to work more of it into my life – mentoring a child, tutoring an adult in English, distributing goods for the food shelf, anything.

And I’ll probably keep walking through the hospital.