MPH Program Spring Semester Over Part 1

Well I have successfully finished my second semester at Morehouse. This semester I took the plunge and took 5 courses ; Environmental Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Research Methods, Intermediate Epidemiology and Applied Epidemiology, the grades were A, A, B, B and F. I know you are probably stuck on that F, I am too. Not because oh that is what I earned but ohhhhhhhh that is what the teacher decided to give me after a semester of crappy teaching and me calling him out on his crappy teaching. And the fact that there were three people in the class and the teacher gave the other two people C’s (which is still failing) and me an F out of his pure unadulterated disdain for all of us and his dislike of my outspokenness and my total disdain for crappy teaching at $500 a credit hour times 3. I am actually ok with it. Because the F does not speak to my ability or my worth however it speaks volumes about the teacher. No worries I know there are implications of the F, however we have submitted a formal complaint to the Dean which ironically before we knew our grade we had informed her of the crappy teaching and a semester of wasted time and long before that we voiced our concerns to our advisor. I am confident it will all work out. Stay tuned on that front.

All in all things are well and I am gearing up to working on my thesis this summer. I have been offered a part time research assistantship position for the summer skegee to work on cervical cancer. I am trying to see how I am going to work that into my life at the Food Bank. This assistantship has a few really cool benefits. The first being my thesis is focused on human papillomavirus (HPV) which is a sexually transmitted disease which is found in 90% of all cervical cancer patients.

Wordless Sabbath

The Bike

I finally got the bike that I have been wanting for a while.  It is a Globe 700 (a division of Specialized Bikes) step thru that I acquired from Outback Bikes in Little Five Points.   I have ridden it a few times today and I am committing to riding it once a day around the park across from my house, starting with one lap a day for a week and building up.  It will be my exercise routine.  My goal is to be physically fit and if that happens to turn into consistently weighing 140 pounds.  I will give all praise to God.  Below is the picture of my bike.  The only drawback to it I realized after I got it home, it does not have a kickstand.  And when I called back I informed the sales person that my bike did not have a kickstand and she informed me that it does not come with one and I asked how does it stand up and she said you lean it up against something or put it in a bike rack and I thought, are you serious you pay $400 to lean the bike up against something.  A kickstand cost $13, I will be getting one tomorrow!!!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!!!

This is a tribute to my mother who embodies the virtures of the Proverbs 31 woman.  Thank you for all the sacrifices you have made to raise me and the values you have given me that hope I live out in my everyday life.  Thank you for representing Christ to me before I know who He was for myself.  Happy Mother's Day!!!

I am still HERE!!!!

On Friday I was having an UGH moment or morning. I called the world's best psychologist and we had lunch.  Everyone should have a doctor, a lawyer and a psychologist on speed dial.  They are priceless!  I was able to talk over my concerns with my him and get some perspective which was greatly needed.  He told me what he sees in me professionally and personally ( please note part of having a psychologist and a friend in one they also tell you what they think).  It was reassuring and comforting I just have to make sure to get out of the way of my own future.

This was reinforced on Sabbath when Pastor John Boston spoke on topic  I am still here.  Coming from the story of Joseph and how his brothers sold him into slavery (Genesis 37).  His brothers were jealous of him.  Joseph shared his dreams with his brothers who began to hate him because they saw potential for greatness in him in through his dream that they were jealous of.  Pastor Boston went on to say sometimes other people/our enemies/our so called friends see potential in us that we do not see in ourselves and attempt to stop us from reaching it out of their own jealousy.   It is important for us to recognize and accept the call God has on our lives and be assured that what God has called you to become he has equiped to be. 

Now to bring what my psychologist said and what Pastor Boston preached and what I know the call God has on my life full circle that is brining me to my Sweet Spot.  I know I am destined to do something amazing to help people live better lives on this earth until Jesus returns and that I will perform it around the world.  and I  am going to get to do all of that with a man (my husband of course) that will continually sweep me off my feet as we both bow in thanksgiving to God! How awesome is that!!!

What does success look like?

I attended a Public Health Leadership Seminar as part of my MPH program on last Friday and a young man named Dustin Duncan, a Morehouse College Alumni and PhD doctoral student at Harvard University had this slide in his presentation (using with permission) that caused me to ask myself the following questions and they gave me an assurance that I am coming into my SWEET SPOT!!!

-What am I passionate about?  Inequalities in developing countries that result in poor health outcomes
-What can I be really good at?  Advocating for those that cannot speak
-What are indicators of success?  Making a lasting change that results in people that might not have had a favorable outcomes do because of some intervention I was able (by God's grace) to implement and doing it all around the world. 

Sabbath Reflections

I shed tears in church today as I watched a young lady have a baby dedicated.  Let me give you some background on baby dedications at my church.  We (Seventh-day Adventist) believe in returning children back to God thru dedication when they are infants.  It comes from the story of Hannah and her dedication of Samual ( I Samuel 1:19 - 26). 

The dedication is surrounded by lots of friends and family and the church elders.  The leading pastor holds the child and offers a prayer of thanksgiving for the birth of the child and prayer of dedication of the child back to God.  Today this young lady stood dedicating her child with only her sister.  She did not have any other family or friends to stand with her for this momentous occasion.  It sadden me and  made me thankful at the same time.  Thankful that I believe I have family and friends that would stand with me indifferent of my religion and the circumstances and come to the dedication of my child (if I had one) because it was something important to me and my child.  It saddens me to think that a man could lay with someone to make a child however would not stand with her for the dedication of the child they created.  There are a number of reasons why she stood there with only her sister, I do not know them.  Most of the ones I imagine are sad to me.  This is an opportunity for me to prayer for and reach to this young lady and I hope you would do the same. 

Foreign Service Oath of Office

I think this sounds pretty awesome

"I ________, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

Sabbath Blessing for Me

I awakened this morning with a resolve on a issue and then I put on my ipod and listened to one of my favorite songs by Dyanamic Praise ( a gospel group from my alma mater Oakwood College).


The song is You Are More Than Worthy on their album Testify;

The words are;

You (referring to God) are more than worthy of my praise. I tried things my way didn’t realize I drove you away you are more than worthy of my praise. I am nothing unless you are leading my life. Teach me Oh Lord your ways and statutes. I am nothing unless you are leading my life. I praise you no matter what comes in my life. I just want to be the vessel you want to use, you have my heart ,my soul , my body and mind. I just want to exalt a total praise to you.  I praise you no matter what comes in my life.  You have my heart, my mind and soul, have your way in me, I yield to you. I praise you no matter what comes in my life just want to be a vessel you want. Thank you Jesus. I give it to you you created me. I praise you no matter what comes in my life I just want to be a vessel you want to use. I just want o be in constant praise to you.

This song is so powerful to me.  The words in bold just caused me to raise my hands and cry holy holy holy.  God is more than worthy.  My greatest desire is to be a vessel that God would want to use to draw others to him.  There is no greater purpose on this earth than that.  Father I yield!!!!

Good Friday

Today is my 34th birthday.

Sunflowers

Sunflowers are my favorite flowers and yesterday while I was at my second favorite grocery store Whole Foods ( my favorite of course is my Food Coop) I bought some and thought I would share them with you!!!

My Office is Now Complete

Well my office is officially finished thanks to my SUNFLOWERS who surprised me and brought over a huge palm last night, which was the finishing touch the room needed. I was wavering between putting up a drape in front of the window which I really did not want because the window is kinda cute. Take a look at the pictures. What do you think? Just in case you are wondering all furnishing are compliments of Pottery Barn via my 40% employee discount. Desk – Bedford Corner Desk, Book shelf – Study Wall Shelf and wood gallery frames, Rug – Sisal Rug with black border, red drape ( I can switch the drape out and change accent of  the theme of black and white)- Cameron Drape, the chairs they do not have any more and the desk chair is probably older then me it is a classic and Pottery Barn actually sells one exactly like it but it is cheaper quality of wood and is much smaller. I have not acquired all of my books from my moms storage but once I do I will probably need another shelf, I have books from undergrad and graduate school and my current collection that I am acquiring in my MPH program.

I have to include a little note about the Palm that SUNFLOWERS brought over. First it was a shock I could not stop thanking, hugging and kissing him not that he is not AWESOME all the time but I had forgotten that I had asked/mentioned in passing, what he thought about a plant in front of the window since he has such a green thumb and could he look into one for me. So when he showed up with it, I was like oh wow you got me a plant. You got me what I wanted. And when I told him how thankful I was he said you asked me for it and I was like yeah but I did not necessarily think you would get it. Something about that is pretty awesome to me and I am not expressing it in words as I would like but I know what it meant to me and that is the most important thing.

Sabbath Lesson for Me

Today’s sermon by Pastor Carlton P. Byrd was God’s weapons of mass destruction. It was taken from Exodus 7 – 12. These texts tell the story of the 10 plagues God brought upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians as a result of Pharaoh refusing to let the Israelites go, they were;


1. All water outlets turned to blood (Exo. 7:17)

2. Frog infestation (Exo. 8:10)

3. Dust turned to lice (Exo. 9:17)

4. Fly infestation (Exo. 8:21)

5. Death of cattle (Exo. 9:2)

6. Boils (Exo. 9:9)

7. Hailstorm ( Exo. 9:18)

8. Locust (Exo. 10:4)

9. Darkness (Exo. 10:22)

10. Death of the first born (Exo. 12:29)

My take away or what I was reminded of is that God is our protector and avenger. He(God) does not need me to fight situations I find myself in. He will protect and avenge me in ways I could never have thought or imagined and He uses weapons I could never have thought of. Who would have ever thought frogs could be used as a weapon? My God is awesome!!!!

Quote for Today

I was reviewing a blog that I follow (the Briden Bunch) and I came across the following quote

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.


~Saint Augustine
 
This and the fact that I a humanitarian at heart is the reason I am destined to join the foreign service working for USAID or the CDC.  Here I Come!!!

Sabbath Lesson For Me

My Sabbath lesson occured before I even went to church.  I read it in my morning devotional book ( it is comprised of stories by women from around the world).  And the day's author made the following prayer that I thought was noteworthy

Lord, help me to simply love others as they are.  Help me also to value the things that are eternal and to accept the things that are temporal.

I thought was rather poetic I hope you see the same.

Sabbath Lesson for Me

It's Sabbath and I went to church even with the snow.  I am only two exits from church so I have no excuse.  It was nice.  The Mayor of  the City of Atlanta was there being honored as part of our Black History Awards honoring those who have me strides in African American History.  Our mayor is Kasim Reed, he is a young (late thirties) and I guess I can say progessive.  He was voted in after a heated election.  He made a statment using a quote from Dr. King that I had never heard.  I have spent the last hour searching for it online.  It spoke of the next generation of privilege.  I could not find that one however I found a two others that I thought I would share

by Dr. King

I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream—a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few;..... ; a dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality. That is the dream...



AFL-CIO Convention, December 1961

and relative to today's climent of the so called Recession
 
When there is massive unemployment in the black community, it is called a social problem. But when there is massive unemployment in the white community, it is called a Depression.


We look around every day and we see thousands and millions of people making inadequate wages. Not only do they work in our hospitals, they work in our hotels, they work in our laundries, they work in domestic service, they find themselves underemployed. You see, no labor is really menial unless you're not getting adequate wages. People are always talking about menial labor. But if you're getting a good (wage) as I know that through some unions they've brought it up...that isn't menial labor. What makes it menial is the income, the wages.

Local 1199 Salute to Freedom, March 1968

Not Washington, DC but

It snowed today.  The pic is of my house I thought I would capture it as it snowed on it.   I took off today and it was a joy from the moment I woke up till now (minus the slight headache I have now which only tells me I ate something with dairy in it and I did not know it).  My mom and I decided since I had my dad's truck to head up to Dawsonville to visit Pottery Barn Outlet  to make use of my employee discount which I fear will be ending soon since holding down my full time job at the Food Bank and going to grad school full time is taking most of my time so much so that I barely have time to for just me in addition to studying.  However giving up the discount is a lot to let go.  Every since I have worked there I have said I want a sofa and I have yet to buy one.  I have furnished my dining room, a guest room, my bedroom and now my office ( you will see the transformation, I am working on it this weekend stay tuned) but not my living room.  I even went to the Outlet for the purpose of finishing up getting stuff for my office and I did all but for  a drape which I will run over to West Elm ( a division of William Sonoma which also owns Pottery Barn and the discount work there too)  over the weekend to see if they have anything.  I feel like I keep drifting but the point is I bought a sofa today for the bargain basement price of $300 (yes it is new), I only wish they had two of them.  I feel I can now comfortable depart from the great PB without any regrets I have gotten what I wanted but then I really want to furnish my other guest room.  The discount keeps calling me back once you pay a drastically different price it is hard to go back to buying at full price, the fake sale price and even the clearance price when you know if you gave up 4-10 hours a week you could benefit from a great discount.  Stay tuned on when I let go!!!!

January Family Get Together

We have started this tradition with my father's side of the family that for all the family in the ATL that we get together once a month at someone's home have dinner. This month it was at my house and the theme was a Soup Swap. It turned out really nice and everyone had a nice time. At first I was a little concerned that the family would not know what to do with just themselves with no TV to fill in the time. All worked out well. We talked, communicated and learned something about each other. We enjoyed a great variety of soups, grilled cheese and crackers and wonderful company. I look forward to the next get together!!!

oh by the way I provided the picture of the table because I find a well dressed table inviting and this particular one I put together myself and I am kind of proud of it!!!.

New Years Day 2010

Last Year was my Year of Restoration, the list I created is below along with the resolutions that occured in 2009


1. Restoring my relationship with God - living the life I believe -CONTINUAL PROCESS
2. Restoring my career that utilizes my education, talents, gifts and drive to travel the world to make a positive impact for change - I AM IN GRADUATE SCHOOL TO ASSIST IN POSITIONING ME TO FULFILL THIS
3. Restoring my status to loving wife, friend, life companion to a man that is a Christian, Adventist, leader, honorable, respectful and knows how to love me best - THE LORD IS WORKING ON IT
4. Restoring my finances to position me to return in tithes and offering what I currently make in less than five years - FINISHING MY DEGREE WILL ASSIST IN THIS FULFULLMENT
5. Restoring me to a level of maturity that accepts people as they are and respecting their desire to be different - I THINK I HAVE

Now as for 2010 I have to repeat those listed above with continued emphasis on my relationship with God and financial stability where the only thing I owe any man is love. Debt free is the goal. I will add I am would like to have secured a consistent weight goal of 140 pounds with a regular weekly exercise routine that I hope will include biking. I think that is it. I will recap next year this time.

Sabbath Lesson For Me

Well it is the Sabbath after Christmas and of course we had a Christmas themed sermon. I unfortunatly did not focus on it at all. Whenever I am at church and bored or distracted by my surrounding or distracted from my own thoughts I start to read the Bible to bring my mind back into a state of worship in God's Sanctuary. Today was no different. I starting reading in Luke in part directed by the fact that is where the day's text came from however i went pass the Luke 2 Christmas text and went on to read Luke 11:13 which states "if ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your chidren: how much more shall your heavely Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him."

My take away from this text today reminded me of what I put in my Christmas letter. I mentioned not getting the one gift I wanted when in actuality I did get it and have had it a while. I know you are thinking I am talking about the gift of Christ sacrifice on the cross, I realize that and am undoubtedly thankful however that is not what I am talking about. God has given me the gift and just because I was not able to have it on Christmas Day as the world would say I should I had it all the previous 364 give or take a few days of 2009. So weighed properly and in perspective I think I am good, I am great!!!