Remembering What's Actually Important in Life

As I end my junior year of college while working three jobs and making as much money as I can in order to pay for my internship and car insurance in order to safely travel to and from my internship and other jobs, I've been thinking a lot about why it is we do what we do and why money is so 'valuable'.

Sometimes all I think about when I work is what money I am earning or saving by working in that moment. It almost makes life seem as though it's all going so quickly... I'm doing this job so that I can make this money so that I can buy or do this thing, but for what? For higher social status? For finding happiness? For saving all of the funds to travel? Sure, but when are you going to take advantage of all of that when all you do is constantly work your whole life away?

I'm terrified that one day I will be 70 years old and will have wasted all of the years in the prime of my life working so that I could do the things I wanted to do during that time, but it just got away from me because I was so focused on making money. U.S. currency isn't even backed by any gold!!! It's essentially worthless, but some many people treat it like it's the only thing that matters! That's insanity!!!!!!!!!

I really appreciate when my mind decides to go on sprees of thinking this way, where I question the nature of my reality and the social constructs that confine our ways of thinking. It brings a much needed change in perspective and helps me to really appreciate all of the little, and big, things that I am so fortunate to have. For example, flowers in a garden or a forest full of trees and wildlife are such beautiful and real things, and so many people don't recognize and appreciate their importance. The relationships we have with our families and friends... How do so many not find all the happiness they need in those relationships? Sure, traveling is amazing and I would love to go everywhere too, but I wouldn't want to go alone. I'd want to have my closest friends and family members with me so that we can enjoy it together. That is half the joy of traveling, just spending time exploring and discovering things with the people you love most.

I just think we all take so much for granted all of the time and don't stop to appreciate all that we are fortunate to have in our lives often enough. So I advise you to take time to think about all of the non-monetary things that make you the happiest and let those things fill you up with all the happiness you can't and won't ever find in money. ☺

Cultural Differences

I never realized Cinco de Mayo was such a celebrated holiday in the U.S. until I came to college. I took Spanish through all of high school and I learned a lot about Latino and Hispanic cultures, and I know what an incredible holiday Cinco de Mayo is for the Mexican people. However, I think its meaning has been muddled by the typical college student looking to drink their college careers away.

UNH prides itself on being a school of great diversity and acceptance of world cultures. Although this way be the vision of UNH, the students don't seem to quite understand how to be appropriately accepting. Cultural appropriation is the act of stereotyping or misrepresenting a culture that is different than your own. On Cinco de Mayo, this is a huge problem and people don't seem to understand why or how their actions offend those of Mexican heritage. By dressing up in ponchos, fake mustaches, sombreros, and other stereotypical Mexican cultural artifacts, those people are demeaning the Mexican culture and are being insensitive while belittling the importance of their holiday.

That being said, others were posting on Facebook all day calling people out for wearing the Mexican garments and celebrating the holiday. Some people were pretty rude about how they approached the party-goers, which to me seems counter intuitive since the whole issue is based upon educating and accepting others. I think the better tactic would have been to talk to the people about how their behavior is portrayed and perceived by others. And maybe trying to educate before the day so that they are more aware and receptive of the message. Anger is not going to fix social injustices by any means.

One thing to help put this whole issue in perspective is this idea that draws a connection to a more intense, but absolutely equivalent, scenario: we all appreciate MLK Day and respect the black culture and understand the oppression of the culture. So, since some people have that day off as a holiday, does that give people the right to dress in black face for any ceremony for MLK?

When you think about it on a broader scale, the celebration and appropriation of other cultures is wrong no matter what culture you are trying to emulate through stereotyping. THIS IS NOT TO SAY WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO CELEBRATE AND APPRECIATE OTHER CULTURES. It is to stress the importance of accepting ALL of the culture, not just the bits and pieces you want to accept.

Rant over.

Prioritizing

Over the course of this semester I have learned a lot about how to be a successful professional. Through this class, my other four classes, my jobs, and trying to balance all of that out with a personal life I have been able to grow and learn the importance of prioritizing.

Prioritization takes a lot of discipline; making sure you do all your work before you go to hang out with friends, or making sure you do the assignments that are most pressing first instead of putting them off by doing other work. It definitely feels easier to procrastinate sometimes, but as we all move on into our internships, and eventually our professional lives, prioritizing becomes vastly more important. When expense reports are due, project presentations are looming, executive decisions need to be made, etc., the stakes are high and prioritization becomes a necessity.

This article by the National Association of County and City Health Officials gives a very detailed view into many techniques for prioritizing the tasks that one may face while in work. I like the article because it gives insight as to how to start prioritizing and the information can be used in any sector of life when making decisions. I think it's helpful to read about the different methods for how to devise a strategy for assigning numerical values to the items on your 'to do' list, 1 being the highest priority. Or the method of voting on the items on the 'to do' list and the item with the highest score becomes the highest priority. The article shows how to use these methods in your own life.

Although there is still glaringly obvious room for improvement in self-discipline and prioritization, I appreciate the knowledge I have gained and skills I have developed over this semester, and this year.

Time Management

We're currently in the midst of our last week of junior year and my mind is buzzing from a lot of things. It's crazy to think about how fast time flies, even though it sometimes feels like it's stagnant. Now it's time to get through finals and finish the year on a good note. While a lot of people are looking forward to the long break to hang out with friends and stay outside all summer, the junior HMP majors have a different story to tell, and I have an even more different story.

We will all be embarking on our summer internship opportunities at various hospitals and healthcare facilities around the region working 40 hours a week for 8 weeks. It's definitely the most exciting part of this year. I know I am excited for the variety of things that I will be doing at the hospital where I will be interning. Some people are starting right after the school year ends so they can have the later half of their summer off, and some are waiting a bit to give themselves a break before going to work all summer. I know people who aren't getting paid at their internships who are working weekend jobs and some of them who are not. We will definitely be busy this summer, no matter what.

I gave myself no time, though. I am currently an RA here, I work at the Institute for Health Policy and Practice, and I just recently started working at an ice cream shop in Boston (Fomu...it's the best). I finish being an RA and working at IHPP on May 18th and then work at Fomu that weekend, then start at the internship on Monday the 22nd. And even though I am starting so early in the summer and will be ending mid August, right after I finish I will be moving back to school for RA training before everyone comes back to school.  The more I think about it, the more overwhelming it seems that I will not have any free time this summer.

But I think it will teach me even more about time and stress management than I already know. Being able to juggle a full time job, a part time job, and preparing for the school year as an RA will be a lot. I am hoping to get as much out of these opportunities as possible, and I'm already thinking that working at Fomu will essentially be my 'free time' because it will be an easy job in an ice cream shop.

Let's see if I make it out of this summer alive.