Don’t Go It Alone

Looking both outside (budding flowers and rain showers) and at my inbox (thesis analysis challenges and graduation reminders), it’s clear that spring is here! It’s the time of semester when classes, capstones, and theses are all starting to wrap-up. While the dates on the calendar are clear, the path to the finish line might remain a little blurry.

As you approach the final stretch of Spring 2023, I encourage you to take some time to check-in with your classmates and lean on each other. Everyone has their own struggles, and it can often be helpful to share them with someone going through a similar journey. Here’s a quote from the PROspective archives that I hope will help you in this final stretch:

Don’t compare your “behind the scenes” to everyone else’s “highlight reel”. I don’t remember where I first heard this phrase, but it really resonates with me. Until we all get comfortable sharing our setbacks, we have to realize that we mostly only see the very best of what happens to those around us. Remember that you only have a sneak peek into someone else’s life, and you are likely unaware of many of the setbacks that they face.

You are studying alongside outstanding students who have and will continue to change public health for years to come – and you belong here. It can be easy to compare your progress to someone else’s and feel like you’re falling short of where you “should” be. By checking in with each other, you can help break the habit of making biased comparisons to your colleagues.

While your challenges may be different, you may be able to provide insight that can only come from someone who is not so intimately wrapped up in the details of a particular project. Maybe what you need is someone to help you find that one spot in the EPI 550 notes that holds the key to your coding troubles. Meanwhile, your classmate could use a fresh perspective on how to best structure this one section of their final report that isn’t coming out quite right. These exchanges can help you refocus and set you back on the right path.

You may feel like you just need to put your head down and keep plugging away until the semester ends. Perhaps there are some of you for whom this really is the best strategy. For those who feel like that would be counterproductive, please take this as your sign to pause – connect with your classmates – and know that it will all come to a close in due time.

Of course, if you need additional support, please reach out to me and/or your ADAP and we will get you connected with the right resources.

This post was originally published in April 2022.

Featured Image by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

How to Reach out to Faculty for Potential Career Opportunities

It’s that time of the year again when everyone is thinking about their summer plans and goals for next semester. You hear your classmates telling you about their fantastic summer research plans and the work they are doing that makes it seem like they are miles ahead of you, and you may be thinking that everyone has their lives together except for you. Sometimes you just don’t know where to start, and that first step toward action is always the hardest. Here at Rollins, there are countless professors who want to help you, so here are a few quick tips on how to reach out to your professors for career advice, potential research opportunities, or more. 

Use your resources. If you don’t yet know what you might be interested in working on in the future, there are so many resources to help you. You can schedule a meeting with your faculty advisor or an ADAP to talk about your experience and career interests, and they will point you in the right direction. They are here to help you, so there is no need to be scared to reach out to them for help or advice. 

Ask around. If you have an idea of the field you might want to work in, but don’t know any faculty to reach out to, ask your friends and classmates if they have any helpful information! Our student body here has such a diverse range of interests that you may be able to use your connections with your peers to find interesting projects to work on. They may have taken a class with a professor in that field or have worked on a similar research project in the past. They can connect you with other people with similar interests.

Do your research. There are so many research centers here at Rollins or otherwise connected to Emory. Make a list of topics you are interested in, and thoroughly research all the related organizations or departments within Emory or closely connected to the University. You will find many faculty members to reach out to, and you can read about ongoing, past, or future research you might want to learn more about. 

Compose a thoughtful email. Finally, you can use all of this information to reach out to faculty you might be interested in working with. Not all professors will be actively doing research or looking for assistance, but you will always be better off reaching out to them if you are interested in their work or career. You could make an important connection or be referred to another professor doing similar work. You may be surprised with the opportunities you come across this way. Read this article for tips on how to compose your initial email!

Finding an APE or Summer Opportunity

Spring always meant new beginnings and transformations, with flowers blooming. However, it also meant that rain would sometimes come around and ruin my day. During my first year at Rollins with new classes, the ADAPs throwing around the new acronym APE more often, it made me so nervous, as I didn’t know where to start. This was especially true, given the fact that I was coming into public health without a Bachelor’s in Public Health or much experience doing what I thought made public health. I didn’t have a clear idea where to start, but I can always help others find their APE/Summer Opportunity. 

1. Get your resume or CV in order. 

You need to have it together. This is the way that you communicate what you’ve done, who you are, and the skills you have to others. Your resume gives you a place to consolidate all of that information. Every opportunity requires something different: some want your resume, others require you fill in an online form, and a small minority don’t even ask for it. Your resume is a snapshot of who you are. From personal experience, not every resume will look the same. When I’m applying to an opportunity that requires me to be well-rounded versus one that requires me to showcase my ability to work in a lab, my resume won’t look the same.   

Know the difference between what a resume and a CV are. Your resume will probably be no more than 1 to 2 pages. Your CV will sometimes be triple that. Both require concrete details, but they’ll be used for different purposes. Both are used to secure interviews, but a resume is used in most non-federal/government or academic positions, but a CV can be used for fellowships/grants, research positions, etc. 

Also, sometimes having a cover letter can help. Cover letters help convey why you’re a great candidate for a role, but they also help to give a personalized explanation to your new employers. Even if an application says, “cover letter optional”, it doesn’t hurt to introduce people to your attitude, motivations and values. Cover letters, CVs, and resumes can all be worked on with the Office of Career Development, filled with great people who want you to find something you want just as much as you do yourself.  

2. Reach out to professors. Let them know what you’re looking for. 

Honestly, we underutilize our professors a lot of the time. I and many of my friends have had opportunities that have been connected to our professors. Sometimes, it feels like they don’t have the time, but they want to all help teach the next generation of public health professionals. You wanted to come to RSPH to be taught by great professors who have connections to places both within Emory and outside of it. The worst that they can ever tell you is no. (They could also potentially help you craft an opportunity just for you.) But in my experience, the worst I’ve gotten are constructive nos.  

A ”constructive no” is what I like to call a subset of constructive criticism. It is when a professor tells you no not because they don’t have an opportunity for you, but because they know that they aren’t the right fit for you. Part of being in academia is connecting with other faculty and professionals. And the biggest service that they can do for you is not waste your time. You’d be more upset doing something that doesn’t fulfil you and waste your time than finishing your APE/Summer Opportunity. 

3. Go online! Google, 12twenty, the Confounder, LinkedIn and more can be so helpful. 

Simply searching the words “public health internship” can present you with tons of opportunities. Your network won’t always know all the opportunities that can help you. Sometimes, new programs can start that they hadn’t heard about. For example, you can be part of the inaugural cohort of a new summer fellowship that no one else has ever done. You can find an internship with a small consulting company that is willing to have you be part time during your second year. Why limit yourself to a small pool of opportunities when you can increase it? 

Going online allows you to filter out opportunities that aren’t what you need or that you can’t do. If you hear about something in California from a professor but you’re aiming to stay in Atlanta for the summer, it can be disheartening. However, you can take key words from that opportunity and use it to find something else that does fill your needs. 

 4. Not everything is for everyone. Being patient is key. 

There’s nothing wrong with saying no. Part of being an adult is to say no to things, doing it in a professional way that doesn’t end a relationship. You may say no because you had a lot of responses, and you could only do one. You may say no because you won’t get the opportunity that you want from something. 

 I have said no to opportunities that I realized weren’t for me. I have said no to things that I thought wouldn’t provide me with an opportunity to learn what I wanted to in public health. We have such limited time in school that we need to make the most of every chance that we get. Potentially wasting it on something that you may dislike the entire time isn’t worth it. 

You don’t want to just fulfill your APE requirement. You’re in public health to make a difference, and you want to ensure that your graduate education allows you to do something meaningful. To do that, you need to think about why am I in public health? What do I want to do in my career in public health? 

You also need to be patient. Some opportunities won’t come in that window that you want. Others will come in a whirlwind of two days. Some won’t happen over the summer, like you wanted. You may get an opportunity that can only happen during the school year. Making sure that your APE fulfills that “why” and “what” for you is going to make that time so much more valuable. It’ll also be a great thing to talk about after your time at Rollins. 

Sticking to Your New Year’s Resolutions this Semester

Welcome back to Rollins for the new year and new semester! We hope you have had some time to relax and take a step back from schoolwork for a few weeks. As the new year begins, you have probably set out on many new personal, professional, and academic aspirations and resolutions for yourselves. Self-improvement is always good, but can be very challenging. Here are some tips on creating healthy long-term change this semester that you can follow through on.

1. Understand the behavior you want to change and why you stick to your old habits. If you are trying to stop procrastinating this semester, think personally about why it is that you do this. Is it because you work well under a time limit? Could it be because you forget about major tasks until someone else reminds you? Is it because you are a perfectionist and won’t start on a task that you don’t believe you will be able to do perfectly? Is it because you have a poorly planned personal schedule and have little free time to get ahead of your work? All of these problems have different roots, and will need to be addressed by different solutions. These solutions could include getting a planner, working with a study group, having an accountability partner, or countless other actions, but you need to do some self-reflection first to determine which one will work for you.
2. Set ambitious goals and break the down into small steps. You might be averse to setting big goals that seem unrealistic to you. Many people discourage these big dreams because they think that they have to accomplish them all at once. Start by making small progress toward your goal, and you will often be able to reach it after creating these habits over time. Here is some advice from Harvard Health: 
   1. “Just getting to first base can build your confidence to tackle — and succeed at — more difficult tasks. Don’t disdain easy choices. If you start every plan with ‘Make list,’ you’re guaranteed to check one box off quickly. That’s no joke: a study on loyalty programs that aim to motivate consumers found giving people two free punches on a frequent-buyer card encouraged repeat business. So break hard jobs down into smaller line items, and enjoy breezing through the easy tasks first.”
3. Keep track of your progress. Keep a journal or a whiteboard and record all your progress toward the goals you set this semester! Creating this visual aid will keep you on track and make it harder to forget about your goals or disregard them after just a few days or weeks. 
4. Reward yourself. Don’t wait until you have accomplished some big task to let yourself feel accomplished. Your goal behaviors are incremental, and you should celebrate every step you make toward positive change. This will keep you motivated, excited, and proud of yourself. 

Reflecting on Your Goals for This Semester

At the very beginning of this semester, Emory’s Office of Health Promotion shared some advice with us regarding habits to develop in order to have the most successful semester possible. Now that our time on campus this semester is coming to an end and we are nearing finals, it is time to reflect on our personal progress. Did you accomplish the goals you intended to accomplish this year? Have your study habits been working for you, or are there ways you can improve? There is still time to become aware of any room that you have for improvement and end your semester on a positive note. Return to this article from a few months ago as finals begin.

Written by Kaylan Ware

After being away from your studies for the summer, it can be difficult to reestablish a routine that works for you. Incorporating daily practices that boost your mood and productivity early in the semester can increase your chances of developing good habits. Start by considering what’s important to you this school year, then try using these strategies to improve your productivity, balance, and well-being.

1. Set intentions. Identify your values and goals this year. This does not have to be school related. Let’s say you want to learn a new skill or spend more time with friends. Decide on actionable steps to attain your intentions and reinforce your intentions daily by reflecting on them. It helps to write your intentions down and place them somewhere you’re likely to look.

Here’s an example of an intention: “This school year, I want to engage in at least three co- curricular activities.”

2. Set daily goals. Either in the morning or the night before, reflect on all you want to get done in your day. Make a list and check items off as you complete them. Include smaller tasks like washing clothes and larger, more time-consuming tasks like finishing a presentation for class. This helps you maintain a realistic schedule for your day, giving you an idea of the amount of time you will dedicate to certain tasks and how much free time you may have.
3. Make sleep a priority. A poor sleep schedule can affect your mood, ability to cope with stress, your ability to concentrate and more. To begin prioritizing sleep, it would help to establish a regular sleep schedule and create a bedtime routine. Consider what your busiest day looks like and think about how many hours of sleep you’d like to get. Aim for 7-9 hours if possible. Having a bedtime routine may include showering, reading a book or meditating. Your routine can help relax your body and mind before bed. Be sure to limit screen time, too!
4. Practice mindfulness. There are so many ways to practice mindfulness. Deep breathing, yoga, coloring, and journaling are all activities where mindful strategies are present. Mindfulness activities can help increase emotional awareness and decrease stress and anxiety. Add mindful moments throughout your week by focusing on your breath, observing your thoughts, listening actively, and observing your surroundings using all five senses.
5. Take a break. It can be overwhelming to consider pausing when you have assignments piling up and due dates approaching, but it is important to utilize breaks to rest and take care of yourself to enhance focus and performance. Build breaks into your schedule to rest and reset so you can tackle your next tasks reenergized. If you need help deciding what to do during a 30-second break or even an hour-long break, visit Campus Life’s Take a Break webpage for inspiration and resources.

Remember to be intentional about incorporating these strategies and practices into your everyday life. Sometimes it can be difficult to stick with an activity long enough to make it a habit. Try finding an accountability partner – a friend, classmate, or mentor – that will check-in and help motivate you to achieve your goals.

Also, check out the Office of Health Promotion’s Instagram page (@EmoryOHP) for wellness tips and programs!

Kaylan Ware is a 2^nd year Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences student at Rollins with interests in health communication, health equity, and chronic disease prevention. She works as the Health Communications Graduate Assistant in Emory’s Office of Health Promotion.

Tips for a Safe and Healthy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving can be a stressful time of year for everyone. Whether you are hosting your first Thanksgiving, coordinating travel plans, interacting with difficult family members, or staying in Atlanta and missing your family, everyone is facing a unique situation this week. Here are some tips to enjoy a safe and healthy Thanksgiving this year no matter where you are.

1. Be public health conscious as you travel. If you are flying this week, make sure to wear a mask at the airport and on your flights, and socially distance where possible! Wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your face or any possibly contaminated objects. Bring hand sanitizer to use throughout the airport where washing your hands is not an option. This is a busy time for travel, especially at the Atlanta airport, and it is our public health duty to do our part in keeping everyone healthy. Now is the time to get your COVID-19 booster and flu shots if you have not already done so! You can schedule both of these through Emory Student Health Services.
2. Try to keep your gatherings as COVID and flu – friendly as possible. Consider adapting your Thanksgiving gathering plans to accommodate for your most vulnerable family members or friends who may be attending. This could mean hosting an outdoor gathering, bringing your own utensils/plates/etc, or setting health and safety expectations with guests ahead of time. Read more tips from the Georgia Department of Health here. 
3. Volunteer in your community. Another way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to volunteer in various ways in the community. If you are staying in Atlanta and are unsure of what your plans might be this year, consider spending your time with one of the dozens of organizations looking for volunteers this week! You can find many of these opportunities here.
4. Have difficult conversations. Public health and epidemiology have become increasingly common topics in the news over the past few years. You may have family members who are suddenly experts in COVID conspiracy theories or share other absurd health-related opinions. Do your best to stay patient when these topics are brought up, and try to understand where their opinions come from. As public health students, this will not be the last time we will have to have these frustrating conversations in our lives, so it is best to be patient and get used to conversations like these. Address any misinformation they have and provide scientific evidence to support your statements. You can find more tips for navigating these difficult conversations here.

Maximizing Your Civic Engagement This Election Season

You have probably been hearing about tomorrow’s upcoming election for months on end from various student organizations, community members, family, and friends. Civic engagement is a very important part of public health, and it is vital that we engage positively with our community here during our time at Emory. The day has finally almost arrived, so here are some resources you can use to maximize your positive impact on the community even if you are not a registered voter here in Atlanta.

1. Learn more about the election here. Make sure you know what issues are on the ballot this year, and become familiar with the candidates that you would like to vote for. It is never too late to start researching these topics so you can make the most informed decisions possible. You can also find your polling place, view a sample ballot, or check the status of a mail-in ballot all in the same portal. Make sure to read through this information ahead of time so everything goes smoothly tomorrow!
2. Make a plan to vote in person. If you haven’t voted yet and you are eligible to vote in Georgia, find a time to get to your polling place tomorrow to cast your vote. If you have already voted or are not eligible to vote in Georgia, help out your friends and neighbors who need a ride to their polling place. Make plans to carpool or walk together, or help them 
3. Volunteer with Rollins-Teer Service Day. Classes will be held asynchronously tomorrow, so you may use your extra free time during the day to volunteer at various organizations around Atlanta. This is a great way to engage with the community, especially if you aren’t eligible to vote. Search your inbox for reminders of these volunteer opportunities! 
4. Register to vote for a potential run-off election. A runoff election may occur if no candidate wins the required majority of votes. This election would take place on December 6 in Georgia. If you missed the registration deadline for tomorrow’s election, it is still not too late to register to vote in the runoff. You have until the end of day today (11/7) to register in person or mail in the registration form found here.

Reorganizing your life during the busy semester

Do you feel overwhelmed with schoolwork and other responsibilities right now? For many students, balancing midterms, work, volunteering, and personal responsibilities can be incredibly overwhelming at times.  It can be hard to balance everything you have to do during this busy time of year. However, developing a few key strategies to manage your time can significantly reduce this stress, leading to better academic outcomes and personal health and wellness. Here are a few tips to help you manage your time this week:

1. Plan ahead and stay organized. Create a schedule for yourself and stick to it. This can be a rough weekly schedule, or a detailed and specific daily routine written each day. Establishing these patterns in our work can help us be more productive in the long run.
2. Know your strengths. If you know that you do not perform well under pressure, make sure to schedule enough time to work on something before a deadline. Leave yourself enough time to ask for help or work with others. If you know that you do perform well under pressure, you can take advantage of this while still giving yourself enough time to produce your best work. Not everyone has the same strengths, so don’t feel bad if your work habits don’t match up to your peers! Establishing your own checkpoints with hard deadlines within a task can help you play to your own strengths.
3. Take advantage of short periods of free time. You don’t always have to accomplish large tasks every day. Using five minutes of time each day to complete small parts of a large project will still help you reach your goal, and you will appreciate the time you save in the long run when you are finally able to sit down and focus on the large task at hand. 
4. Make to-do lists. It is important to have a visual reminder of the work you need to do. In addition to this, checking off boxes on a to-do list is always satisfying and can provide you the sense of accomplishment you need to keep going.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. No matter how well you manage your time, there will always only be 24 hours in a day. Sometimes you will have to prioritize the most important tasks in your routine and delegate the rest to others. It is important to set boundaries and let people know when they are taking advantage of your time or overburdening you with responsibilities. 
6. Take care of yourself. There is nothing better you can do for yourself than making sure you stay safe and healthy while working on a task. This can mean taking breaks to go on refreshing walks or getting coffee, or even doing your remote work in natural spaces like a park or your backyard. Remember, it doesn’t do you any good to overwork yourself, and you are capable of accomplishing everything you need to do this week!

Reaching Your Goals: A Mid-Semester Check-In

By: Veronika Laird

As the hot summer finally begins to transition to a cooler fall, many of us start to feel the weight of the semester on our shoulders. We’ve taken midterms, some of us are digging deep into our theses, finally getting used to a new job, or just trying to make it to Thanksgiving break. While midsemester can be stressful, it’s also a time to think about how strong you want to finish the year. It’s a good time to check-in with yourself and set goals for how you want this chapter of the school year to end.

              We’ll soon be receiving midterm grades and other forms of constructive criticism which can help us set achievable goals for the next two months before winter break. Creating goals for yourself not only helps you measure your progress, but they 1) hold you accountable and 2) provide you a “destination”.

              It’s safe to say that many Rollins students are tenacious and driven, but don’t we all want to do well in our classes and jobs? Maybe even exceed expectations? Who is in control of that? YOU.  But first, we have to set realistic, short-term goals and keep ourselves accountable for trying to achieve them. I think this happens easily when we think about the “final destination”.  This semester a goal I set for myself is to finish writing components of my thesis manuscript. In the beginning this seemed daunting. I would often and still do close my eyes when I think about this goal, and I imagine the final product or “final destination”. For me I see a word document filled with citations, tables and figures, and my name at the very top. This strategy is very helpful to mentally think about your end goal and then start taking steps to achieving it.

              To start taking steps toward achieving your goal, you must make a plan. First, you want to do small tasks that lead up to achieving your short-term goal–accomplishments don’t happen overnight. Second, you must make time to work on these tasks and create time in your calendar for them. Thirdly, we touched on how important accountability is and it’s important to check-in with yourself or a friend who also knows the goal you are working towards. This creates time to celebrate your achievement or reflect on why you may not have reached your end goal. Finally, it’s okay if you didn’t complete your goal–we can all grow from our disappointments. What is important is to find where you may have let yourself down and understand how that can be remedied for next time.

              Lastly, a key component to following-through on your goals is knowing yourself. What motivates you to get out of bed every morning and come to class or work? Remember that you didn’t have to choose this career. You didn’t have to come to graduate school. Why did you? If you remind yourself of your “why” each time you are working towards your dreams and goals, it can help you push through the hard times. Don’t forget that there’s always support along the way from your peers and faculty. You have nothing to lose, so reach for the stars.

Veronika is a Second-Year MPH student in the Global Epidemiology Program interested in researching zoonotic diseases. She studied integrative biology with a minor in chemistry and global health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in their honors program.

Featured Image by Ronnie Overgoor on Unsplash

This post was originally published on October 17, 2021. 

Civic Engagement Resources and Tips from REDI

Written by: Rollins Election Day Initiative (REDI) student representatives 

One reason that many voters, especially young voters, list for not turning out to vote is a feeling like “their vote doesn’t matter.” After all, when races are determined by tens of thousands of votes, why would one vote make a difference? While that may feel like the case in non-swing states and less competitive elections, Georgia is currently in two of the closest and most competitive federal election races nation-wide and has been a major player in federal and state politics for the past several races. The last midterm season, 2018, saw the closest gubernatorial election in Georgia in sixty years and those same two candidates are facing off again this midterm season (Brian Kemp (R), Stacy Abrams (D)). Moreover, we are also hosting the nail-biting senate race against incumbent Raphael Warnock (D) and challenger Herschel Walker (R). There’s a lot going on!

Voting is an integral step in the epidemiology cycle. The incredible evidence that our community contributes to understanding the determinants of health can be actioned by voting for state and local candidates that will fight for policies that we hope will better the health of our community. 

The reality is that it is not easy to vote, especially in Georgia, so REDI is determined to help make the process as easy as possible for our community. If you would like easy access to ballot information as well as information on your polling place or voter registration, swing by one of the Rolins Election Day Initiative (REDI) tables in the next couple of weeks.  Additionally, while voting is definitely the most important way to participate in an election, it is not the only way to be involved in civic engagement. Leading up to November 8th, we will be posting volunteer opportunities on how you can be more involved during this election cycle and during Rollins Day On, so follow us on Instagram at @emory.REDI !

Here are some resources: 

Q) When is the deadline to register to vote in Georgia? 

October 11th! So swing by a REDI voter drive table over the next few weeks to apply for an absentee or register in GA!

Q) I’m already registered to vote in another state, can I register to vote in Georgia?

Yes! While you may not vote in multiple states, you may be registered to vote in multiple states.

Q) I just moved to Georgia for school- am I eligible to vote in Georgia?

Yes!  If you are an in-person student at Emory, even if you have an out-of-state ID, you are eligible to vote in Georgia (you just have to register). 

If you have a Georgia driver’s license or state ID, you can register online:

Registertovote.sos.ga.gov

If you do not have a Georgia ID, you can use to link below to fill out your information online but you must print the completed registration, sign and date the application and deliver it by mail or in person to your local county registrar’s office.https://registertovote.sos.ga.gov/GAOLVR/welcome.do#no-back-button

Q) How do I check / update my Georgia voter registration? 

• Go to mvp.sos.ga.gov and enter your name, birthdate and county 
•  Make any updates to your info registertovote.sos.ga.gov by October 11 
•  Contact your elections.sos.ga.gov if you have trouble.

Q) What’s on the ballot this year? 

Enter your address and find out what your specific ballot measures are: https://branch.vote/