1.23.2007
Different worlds
The school of public health has six departments, each populated by people that look different from the others. In Epidemiology, they are casual and math-y; t-shirts, jeans and sneakers, all set off by an insulated lunch box. The Biostatisticians look like that, except more withdrawn and terrified. The Behavioral Sciences and Health Education crowd is mostly sorority girls, and a few guys that are secure enough in their masculinity to be the sensitive type. In Global Health, my department, we occasionally work our field clothes into daily wear--Chaco sandals, fleece zip-ups, knee-length skirts--but we also like to accessorize with trinkets and scarves from around the world. The Environmental Health types dress like they are ready to go clean out streambeds at any time. They carry enormous backpacks because they bring their lunches in tupperware, carry their nalgenes, and lug around their laptops so they never have to print anything out.
But the Health Policy and Management Department is my favorite, for looks. They all talk like they are from South Carolina and they dress either like JC Penney ads or like business school students. I've taken two classes in that department, and both times I thought I would develop allergies to blonde highlights and pearls. In my class with them today, we went around and said what we did over break. Several people had gone to college bowl games, others had gone to the beach in Mexico or the Carribean, one girl bragged about getting her mom drunk for the first time. For me, it was experiencing a new culture. When they are finished, most will enter the for-profit sector, where they will make comfortable livings in the "healthcare industry", enough to indulge their hobbies and college sports rivalries. I don't know where I'll be, but hopefully far from there.
But the Health Policy and Management Department is my favorite, for looks. They all talk like they are from South Carolina and they dress either like JC Penney ads or like business school students. I've taken two classes in that department, and both times I thought I would develop allergies to blonde highlights and pearls. In my class with them today, we went around and said what we did over break. Several people had gone to college bowl games, others had gone to the beach in Mexico or the Carribean, one girl bragged about getting her mom drunk for the first time. For me, it was experiencing a new culture. When they are finished, most will enter the for-profit sector, where they will make comfortable livings in the "healthcare industry", enough to indulge their hobbies and college sports rivalries. I don't know where I'll be, but hopefully far from there.
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