Born and raised in Cincinnati, I thought I had a good grasp of what service in my hometown community looked like. After my summer as a Gateway Fellow with DukeEngage in 2024, I realized I was vastly out of touch. I spent the summer with the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, holding health fairs and re-entry programs. I was meeting people where they were constantly. Sidewalks, sports stadiums, libraries, community centers, corner shops. As I entered Duke, this experience lead to me to become involved in high level systems reform. Through Sanford and Margolis I learned about the decision-making processes behind pushing action towards these same groups. My curiosity only grew. I landed on drug policy and therapeutics. It made perfect sense: regulatory science is boring. But it within the boredom that decisions about who receives what type of care and when is made.
When I figured out about Brodhead, I wanted the stars to align. A project about therapeutics that was community-facing, gave me a deeper understanding about my people in Cincinnati, and had autonomy for my impact.
The Michael Fisher Center for Child Health Equity was perfect.
I was able to visit schools, learn about free clinics, help solo school health assistants make the year easier, help with student rosters for the fall school year, and take a load off of the health assistants- especially for kids with life-threatening conditions.
