Only TWO weeks away!

Hey guys! So this is a very new experience for me and I'm very new to the blogging world but I wanted to create this blog to share my personal journey in the Peace Corps. For this first post I wanted to not only introduce myself but why I chose to volunteer with the Peace Corps and what it truly means to me to serve globally. Bare with me because this post will be long and definitely not perfect.

First, I am finally a college graduate, graduating from Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, OH. I received my Bachelor's of Science in Health Science with a minor in Biology. Although college is over, I know that now is where life truly begins for me. You'll find in the "About Me" tab a little of what I did while in college but that is only a preview to the many things that I was involved in on/off campus. Since I was a little kid, I have always been an outgoing individual. I wanted to meet new people and learn about them. I wanted to get involved as much as I could with the communities that I was in. I wanted to make a positive impact and serve those that were around me. While in college, I was grateful enough to be a part of the SSU volleyball team. This alone taught me many leadership skills, but it was not until I was a head coach for two teams of 13 year-olds girls that I found the true meaning of leadership. While I was a full time student, I was scheduling practices every week, scheduling tournaments to play in, and being a role model for those young women.

I never realized what an impact Shawnee would have on me but at the beginning of the summer before my senior year, I realized that Shawnee provided me with many opportunities. One of those was being an intern at the Portsmouth City Health Department. Although it was not the "dream" internship everyone would be excited about, it was an opportunity to be involved with Public Health and the community that I was in. My role was the "Mosquito Intern." Usually when I tell people this, they look at me crazy because why would I want to deal with mosquitoes, but they did not understand the impact that a mosquito had on the public. While I worked along side another college student, we set traps each day to collect as many mosquitoes as possible. After setting the traps, we would freeze them in order to keep any and every disease that they were carrying still detectable. After collecting and freezing, we sent them off to a lab in Columbus where they would test them for any diseases that were being carried. If the lab detected any, they would inform us and as interns were responsible for telling the Epidemiologist what diseases were being carried in the area. This would then start the process of public awareness and prevention.

In addition to my time as an intern, I was a volunteer for the "Prevention Not Permission" program that was occurring through the Health Department. This program allowed for individuals of the community to exchange dirty needles for clean needles. Although it sounds counter intuitive, it was preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in the community. I loved being a part of this program because it allowed me to witness first hand how important it was to be proactive and how serving the community can make a change in the long run. I found myself wanting to be more involved with Public Health and prevention mechanisms.

Another opportunity that Shawnee provided me with was volunteer work through volleyball. One of those volunteer opportunities was working with Portsmouth Elementary School to improve the reading of children grads 1-5. Project MORE helped students that had reading disabilities to improve their reading skills to match those of their peers. Another opportunity was cleaning the streets of Portsmouth, OH in what was called Plant Portsmouth. This was a great opportunity to give back to the community and ensure that the community was living in a clean environment.

In high school I wasn't a part of clubs because I was so busy with athletics year-round and working so I couldn't be as involved as I wanted to be with meetings or gatherings. While in college, I decided to change that. I was a transfer student as a Sophomore when I came to Shawnee and knew nobody at the school besides the team. I decided that I was going to join a club to be more involved on campus. One of the first clubs that was introduced to me was A.H.A.N.A (African, Hispanic, Asian, Native American Student Club). The club's goal was to increase the diversity and aspects of culture for minority groups on campus.

Lastly, during my last semester I worked in the Office of Admissions on campus where I was responsible for giving tours to prospective students. Although this has nothing to do with Public Health or what I'll be doing in South Africa, it allowed me to open my mind and be more aware of the many different people that are in this world. Every tour I had different people with different views on college or life in general. It prepared me to have a more open mind no matter where I'm at in South Africa.

With all of that being said, I decided that I was going to volunteer with Peace Corps the summer of 2019. I was introduced to it by a lady that had previously served in Ghana. At the time, I really didn't know what I was going to do after I graduated. I knew that I wanted to go into Public or Global Health and I pretty much planned that I was going to go get my masters. After talking with her and doing research, every bone in my body told me to fill out an application. Like I said before, I had always wanted to serve in communities and what better way to serve in a community than one that is overseas where the environment and everything surrounding me was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I have always had passion for working or serving in developing countries and after doing research I decided that Peace Corps was a great start. I knew that my last semester of college would be challenging and would prepare me for this adventure and it did just that.

A lot of people have had questions as to why I have joined and what exactly I am going to be doing. The main reason for my decision was my passion for serving others. Between volunteering at the Health Department and the elementary school, I found that I love love love to help others. It brings me peace and joy seeing a smile on someone else's face from the things that I am doing. Other reasons for my decision are the experiences that I will receive, the knowledge that I'll learn, and the way that I will grow personally and professionally. I have no doubt that the Peace Corps will allow me to find in my heart the exact thing that I want to do in Public Health. I am not delusional to the challenges that I am about to be faced with and I am so excited to start this new journey, new friendships, and a lifetime of memories.

While in South Africa, I will be a Community HIV/AIDS Outreach Coordinator an with the trust of my community, I hope to implement the importance of education and prevention when it comes to HIV. I cannot wait to work closely with any organization that I am a part of and put a dent in this pandemic.

I am super happy that you guys can all follow along and stay updated on the many things that I will be getting myself into so stay tuned for future posts! If you have any questions or ideas of topics to write about contact me through social media!

P.S. I need suggestions of books to read!