I have not written here in several weeks. I could give many excuses: I've been busy, too much homework, no free time- but in the end they all amount to the same thing. I didn't make the time. I've been learning a lot in the past few weeks, and arguably, I've grown a lot in some areas. In others, well, there still is a little work required. I think the most important thing that I have realized while I have been here is the value of time and the detriment of procrastination. I learned several very important lessons today.
Inspiration is an amazing thing. It can set you on fire, make you loose sleep, and take over your life in good, bad, and wonderful ways. You can't always wait for it. Sometimes you have to make it or find it yourself. I'm making inspiration.
I've been thinking lately that what I really want to do after graduation is spend a year abroad somewhere. Where that is all depends on what type of programs are available and I get accepted to. I would love to perhaps try to end up in France or some French-speaking country, or maybe England so I could try to get a master's in nutrition or agriculture, or perhaps Taiwan or Morocco, to learn either Chinese or Arabic. I will have to start applying and writing as soon as I get back, but I know I can find something. After that, I want to go to medical school for an MD/PhD. It's going to be a long process and it took a lot of thinking for me to even get here; I used to be so certain that I wanted nothing to do with the medical world, but the more I think about it, the more I see how everything is connected. I'm especially interested in nutrition, which is a huge problem in very different ways, depending on where you go in the world. Go to the US, and obesity is a problem; go to Jamaica or parts of Africa and Asia and malnutrition is the other extreme. These are both fixable problems, they just have to be dealt with in different ways. I think it's fascinating that different food combinations can alter how your body takes up nutrients. If this could be harnessed, along with agricultural methods, many places where malnutrition is an issue could be improved just by ensuring that all the calories that get eaten get taken up by the body.
Other issues that fascinate me involve pharmaceutical wastes, from unused pharmaceuticals to those that end up in rivers, lakes, and oceans because they go through the human body. Many of these have natural analogs that could be used instead that don't pollute the environment. The only problem with these is that they are not as well researched or tested as typical pharmaceuticals, so they are less trusted and they are not supported by either the pharmaceutical industry or doctors. This is where being a doctor could come in handy. I think I would eventually like to start a school for doctors that makes it necessary to learn more about different areas of medicine in order to increase understanding of the workings of the human body. If you know more about the spine (like a chiropractor), then you understand more about injuries to the nervous system. If you understand more about nutrition, then you understand more about the physiological needs of the body, and possibly better how to combine alternative medications. If you know more about massage therapy and muscles, you know more about stretching, physical therapy, and muscle injuries.
So today I had a bit of a humbling experience.
The president of SEA, John Bullard, came into our Maritime Studies class today to give us a scenario and see how we responded. He made us "mayor" of New Bedford for an hour, and presented us with the dilemma of putting in a new waste treatment plant and where it should go. The arguments NOT to put it at either place were substantial, and in the end most of our class ended up voting for one place; all except one girl. When he asked her why she had decided not to put it where everyone else did, she gave a whole host of reasons that were very very good, and I don't think any others of us had thought of. I was really humbled and thankful for that moment. It turns out he had made the same decision when he was mayor of New Bedford.
Afterward, we had pizza with him and got to discuss issues that we thought were important. It was really an eye-opening experience, because it really drove home the point how important it is to know who your senators and representatives, and politicians in general, are; how important it is to be informed about issues and to see that you have some sort of understanding of what is going on in the world. I started to wonder how to get people interested in things they might think they can't or don't have the time to understand. What if the president started up "Fireside Chats" again? I know it takes time, just like this blog takes time. Just like it takes time to keep in touch with people and to make yourself known. Sometimes, though, that is what is needed. You need to show people that you care and can empathize on issues, that you have enough compassion to try and see things from a point of view that may not be your own. In the end, I realized that John Bullard has a wealth of knowledge that my generation does not. He's been in politics, he's served in presidential campaigns, and he understands what it means to try and please multiple parties while attempting to accomplish a goal. This is something you can learn from, you can take advice from, and you can take away knowledge from. I'm really glad they did this.
On top of it, I got a message today from and old Ripon friend, who gave me an amazing quote that basically sums up the important parts about finding a purpose in this world:
“Never let the competition define you. Instead, you have to define yourself based on a point of view you care deeply about.” Tom Chappel
Thank you, Jolene. I needed that. So even though days may come where things don't go right and where the whole world seems to fall apart, they're really only days in a string of time that defines you. Every day is a choice, and if you are really committed to something, it will take more than a bad day to deter you.
Have a great one, all-
Meagan
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