June 15th, 2019 was the last day of SALUD 2019! It was a wonderful day. First, Migrant Roots Media talked to our students about the basic concepts of social justice by exploring the root causes of migration and the lived experiences of immigrants in the United States. This was a wonderful session – it gave students an opportunity to further explore their identities and how they and their loves ones navigate living in a country that does not always accept them. It was also very engaging! It was inspiring to see how students had grown over the course of the semester and the confidence they displayed in participating and sharing their perspectives.
The last few hours were spent on the 5th floor of Trent Seman’s Surgical Education and Activities Lab (SEAL) to use some of the very same technology and tools medical professionals use to hone their clinical skills. Very grateful to the busy 2nd year medical students who took time out of their busy schedules to spend a few hours with our students! Students got to use ultrasound machines, best medical student speed times with laproscopic tools, use a Da-Vinci surgery machine, practice intubation, and learn the basics of knot tying and suturing. I was blown away with how skilled the students became over the course of such a short instructional period. One student and I even had a competition to see who could intube the safest and fastest!
Finally, we had the commencement ceremony. Family, friends, sponsors, and staff gathered to celebrate SALUD and the achievements of our brilliant students. Dr. Gaby Nagy was our key note speaker and talked about her experiences of navigating higher education as a Latina. My favorite moment was when a few of the students went to the front to talk about what SALUD meant to them… It touched my heart and was such a powerful reminder of why our team works so hard to serve these students. Their words were beautifully said and meant so much to the entire team. Afterwards, we celebrated with photos! It was truly a great experience to see our students excited with each other and their families.
Afterwards, the SALUD team met until past midnight to celebrate and plan for SALUD 2020. We have so much more in store, so stay tuned for what we will do next year!