This week has been filled with a lot of great and meaningful experiences from Primary One Health filled with lots of connective conversations with so many different people throughout the organization. I have enjoyed getting to know my colleagues and I am excited to grow my relationships with them as I continue through the summer. I feel like I am starting to find my place, and feel grateful to be attending a lot of perfect meetings and working on interesting projects. I had the joy of getting to attend the Make a Day event where I worked alongside one of my colleagues who had the most inspiring story. His story was that of great inspiration, and I felt such a strong connection to his passion. His passion is the same as my own passion, even though circumstances and fate have dealt us both different cards in life our combined passion is what drives us. Listening to his story and hearing of all he has overcome I felt such an admiration for a man who has overcome so much, and yet has committed his career to the service of others. That takes grit, grace, and faith. Faith in the capacity of others to be able to help. He mentioned that he was not ready for help for almost fifty years or his life, and he said “one I was ready to accept help I realized that there were so many resources and help was here in Columbus” He is celebrating 20 years of sobriety and almost his 10 year anniversary at P1H.

During our Fellows meeting we talked about our why. When we were asked about this question I had to challenge myself. Ok Rose what is your why? I think I have a surface level why but when I dig deeper I feel a grounding in my why that was somewhat reaffirmed when I was speaking with my colleague. My why is: to help individual’s access basic needs such as healthcare, quality education, nutrition, etc. so that everyone can have an equitable life and opportunities. Equality isn’t always the answer when there are systemic barriers, and cyclical disparities: equity and serving people the way that they need in ways that are specific to their situation, population, and community is how I believe real change can be addressed. For as long as I can remember I have always had an innate calling to helping others. I find myself leading with empathy and I want to make an impact on the world and make my community better. I have always had the inside of me guiding my decisions, and guiding where I am today. A deeper part of my why is intrinsically connected to that disposition. I have been afforded a very privileged life and with that privilege I carry a deep responsibility to use my privilege to be able to uplift and serve those who do not have the same privilege as me. I will never understand what it is like to be in a different position than the one I have been placed in but I can dedicate my life to listening, learning, and connecting with all people. I want to end the systemic injustices, cyclical nature of society so that the dignity and humanity of all humans is honored and I believe this can be done by listening, meeting people where they are, and intentional action. My why is the desire that every person’s humanity is dignified and the empathy, grace, and kindness are at the forefront of change in our society and that every person has basic human rights. I want to be the person that people can count on, raise a voice for the silenced, and help people access resources so that they can be successful. When I was speaking with my colleague he said out stories may be different but we are sitting in the same chair today, and when he spoke about how there is help out there in the community, my desire is to be that person that shows up and can be a catalysts in changing the lives of those in my community.