Wow. I cannot believe I’m sitting here, writing my final blog post. As I reflect on my first blog post, “A Letter to My Future Self,” I feel a great sense of accomplishment, and a little bit bittersweet. All of my expectations for what I wanted to learn and experience this summer were met, but I’m a little sad that its come to an end seemingly so quickly!
I essentially knew nothing about Brazil when I started, and during these past 10 weeks my knowledge has expanded exponentially. I wrote in my first post that I hope “that this experience will give me a better idea of how I see myself improving the world’s health in the future.” I believe that this goal has been fulfilled. During my process of conducting literature reviews and exploring primary sources, I have learned a lot about the nuances of public health policy and how influential racial and gender politics are in the process of developing health policy (for better or for worse). I feel confident that I can take the knowledge I’ve gained throughout this fellowship about public health in Brazil and use my perspective to inform my public policy studies.
What I didn’t write about in my Letter to My Future Self was how important my fellow WAGSFP cohort fellows would be to my summer experience!! I have been SO inspired by the other fellows. You all are amazing. Seriously, I mean it. I have learned so much from everyone, and it has been really refreshing to be surrounded by such dedicated, hard-working, and intellectually curious people. It has been such a pleasure getting to know you all.
Goodbye my friends! Have a great rest of your summer! I am excited to see what you all end up doing in the future– I’m certain it will be something great!
Sincerely,
Brianna