Thursday, April 22, 2010

summer plans!

What a whirlwind of a semester! For a while there, I was worried I might not be able to handle all that I set out to do... I enrolled in one-too-many classes, I started the CHL fellows program which had associated assignments and seminar times, and on top of that I had volunteering duties and interviews/applications for summer internships to think about!

Now, I am gradually checking my school assignments off my list, my CHL Fellows project group is zooming through our projects, and I am feeling like I may have finally gotten the hang of this grad school thing. The end of the semester is in sight, leaving me to think about my exciting summer internship, in which I will be.... (drumroll please)
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... working on Health Impact Assessment (HIA) projects at Human Impact Partners in Oakland, CA! I am truly excited by this opportunity to join HIP, a firm that is working with groups around the country to evaluate local and state policies from a public health perspective.

I feel fortunate to have landed this opportunity, as I feel like the HIA method is a great application of the combined fields of public health and city planning. I think it will be a chance for me to gain new skills and an increased awareness of policy-making processes. Yay!

Other than that, it is also nice to daydream about having a better work-life balance during the summer. Already, even as I work on my final projects I find my mind wandering, thinking about all the books I want to read, meals I want to cook, and outings that I want to take now that I will have evenings and weekends free... at least for the next three months!

Thanks to the CHL fellows for being such a great sounding board during these past few months. I'm excited to hear about how everyone's summer jobs turn out!