Life Update again

Two life updates in a row. Get excited.

I haven't had a full night's sleep (6 hours or more) all week. I slept 4 last night, like 4 the night before, and then something like 5 and 4 and 5 for the rest of the week. And I have a no-napping policy in place right now which I'm seriously reconsidering. I feel like so many things are happening that I'm having serious problems keeping track of everything and to the point where if I don't write things I need to do down immediately, it just slips out of my mind like I've got premature Alzheimer's or something. Not sleeping doesn't help any.

Madness all started on Wednesday at the Disease Detectives thing. Which was awesome. Not only did I spend like three hours dwelling on what exactly I want to do in life education-wise (Do I want an MD/PhD instead of an MPH?? Do I need a PhD instead of an MPH?? Am I really going to take a year off after I graduate?? etc. obsessing over stuff like I normally obsess over), but I also got the chance to talk to the keynote speakers after the event, Dr. Susan Fisher-Hoch and Dr. McCormick, about working in their lab on epidemiological border-health issues, obesity/diabetes/TB, and the like, in Brownsville. That's totally something I'd want to do.

Ok. Brownsville, right? Not exactly the place I want to be this summer. BUT, all my housing would be paid for, I'd still be semi-close to Austin for weekend visits if I wanted (or a trip home by air), and I'd get a stipend, AND I'd be working for two of the most famous/amazing global epidemiologists in the world, who just happen to be in a not so great city. When I asked them what brought them to Brownsville, Susan Fisher-Hoch told me it was because it was like "being in an underdeveloped country again "where resources weren't there and so there was a real calling." Noble, yes. No resources, yes duh I'm from El Paso, I know how that goes. Border towns unite, right? Go where the need is.

And then...on Thursday I took a biochem test, went on with class, etc., and in the afternoon, I found out that I was accepted to intern at The Carter Center. And now, I have to make a decision about what I want to choose by Monday. MONDAY. Freakin A, that's two days from today. I don't know how the hell I should choose something. I guess I shouldn't be complaining because I have choices, and I was so worried I wouldn't have any choices. The Carter Center is so appealing because it's an international organization, has a big name (obviously), would have the kind of intellectual atmosphere that I would love to experience, would be an awesome chance to network, and get to really know staff (some pretty big people), and meet the other 30 or so interns. I'd probably find a place to live at Emory or something. And woo, Emory. I can visit the med school/the Rollins school, the CDC, see everything.

So I stayed up all Thursday night emailing people about possible funding opps just to cover basic cost-of-living expenses (it's an unpaid internship, NGO/nonprofit work of course interns are unpaid...the Brownsville thing got CDC funding to pay its interns...), and Cline responded to my email in like 5 mins (I love Cline), and was like, yeah I'll talk to Laude about some college pot of money. So, I have no idea if this would work out and shouldn't get optimistic, but if I can't get something from UT, I'll have to try somewhere outside? In like the next month or so that I have? Oh man.

So I spent my Friday in lab since I skipped Wednesday. God I was tired. I ran back home, showered/changed, went to OJ/Blazer Formal (which was fun to see everyone, even though I was freakin tired), came back home, crashed, got up at 4:30 AM, papered, turned it in by 9 AM, answered emails....and then proceeded look for housing in Atlanta.

While I was writing my paper this morning (I'm writing it on the Gates Foundation, and global health philanthropy), I wrote a segment of my paper on this major public health guy, Dr. William Foege who is a senior health advisor to the Gates Foundation's global health team, influenced Gates to get involved with global health and now plays a major role in directing the Foundation's global health goals, used to be the director of the CDC, ran programs that virtually eliminated smallpox in India and river blindness in Africa, and....get ready for this....used to be director of The Carter Center's Global 2000 program (what, what). This TC paper I'm doing for Dr. Oshinsky is a SIGN. Can't pass this up, right.

I just got off the phone with Dr. Field, (I don't know how she manages to find time to talk to her students over weekends about stuff), and we talked about what I wanted to do. I still have no idea. Atlanta vs. Brownsville. Carter Center vs. CDC descendants. Lab/epi project vs. health/policy research and programming. World renowned epidemiologists vs. world renowned health officers and philanthropists. Meh this is hard.

I shouldn't complain. I a pretty lucky girl.