Tuesday, June 29, 2010

I'm Back!

Hey Blog,

Apologies – because it’s definitely been a while. The reason the “omg I’m going to Kazakhstan” updates abruptly stopped this fall is because it just so happened that the Peace Corps changed its mind on me, and I was no longer going to Kazakhstan for a bit.

Luckily for me though, 2 other opportunities did not change their mind on me! And armed with my very expensive piece of paper that said I GRADUATED from Dartmouth, I was faced with a decision:

1. Dream job #1 of working at a health care consulting firm in NYC
2. Dream job #2 of volunteering at a health care clinic in Rwanda

This became almost a non-decision, however, after Dartmouth’s commencement. Although most 10s probably only remember our speaker, Stephen Lewis, for his verbosity and vivacity (and perhaps for his cliché praises of President Kim), I rather thought he was speaking directly to me during it. He tasked the 10s to go forth in the world and do a little more than move into a swanky apartment in New York, but to instead step up and do something – be the change we want to see in the world.

And just to add – the honorary degree recipients were no small list of easily overlooked businessmen. Along with Stephen Lewis (who was very proud to point out that he never actually graduated college), Dartmouth chose to honor the Secretary of Rwanda’s Ministry of Health (coincidence?) and the current Surgeon General of the US with degrees from the college. The current Surgeon General, mind you, got her medical training by starting a clinic in her small Alabama hometown and accepting chicken eggs as payment. Oh yeah…and I shook President Kim’s hand when I graduated…y’know…the guy who helped start Partners in Health.

Even though Blair Waldorf (Argote, did you get that reference?) says that “signs” are only for poor and trashy people, I took this as a sign…I was supposed to go to Rwanda.

So now the newest adventures of my blog will start…I head to Rwanda for (at least) a year on July 30. Which gives me a month to prepare myself (should I cut my hair?) and update all of you before I head into a very large unknown.