A Letter from Ria

Dear friends,

I've thought a lot, these last few weeks especially, about how fundamentally college has changed my classmates and me. And while I'm happy to report that my experience has been rich and I've truly appreciated the academic and the co-curricular, the planned and the spontaneous, early mornings and late nights, I cannot overstate GlobeMed's role in my own growth. The thing is, of course, that plenty of more insightful and eloquent people have written/spoken about GlobeMed, college, and a life of deliberate activism. I would love to refer you to many more. 

What I can talk about, at least less self-consciously, is GlobeMed at University of Rochester. There is unbelievable heart and resilience in us, as a group. It's what has fueled us to always take still greater, braver risks with something that means so much to us, and it's why we are eager to feel both highs and lows. To me, that is a success. It's also why I ask you to do two things. 

1. Consider what you experienced as a part of GlobeMed. Consider the things that you were frustrated by, the things you tolerated, and the things you were indifferent to. Please improve them. Find one or a few parts of what we do and strive to make them better, not only through feedback but also through initiative. I say this because I am (clearly) feeling a lot of feelings, but overwhelmingly, I feel that I would not trade my four years in GlobeMed for anything, except maybe the chance to do it all again. Not as I did it, but as the class of 2018 will, and that is to say, bigger and better than in my grandest dreams. And I hope they'll be able to relate.

2. Allow yourself to be changed, every day, by possibility. Our 2012-13 copresident, Jeremy, gave this spectacularly sound advice about this time last year, and I couldn't agree more. I know it's not specific to GlobeMed, but it is relevant. And it can take a lot out of someone to be constantly reading, reflecting, campaigning, discussing, analyzing -- but that's the point. You'll get back so much more than you put in. Invest and continue investing; find a space where you are challenged and nourished. Our community (the chapter, the network) has been that, for a lot of us, many times over.  Our possibilities are infinite.

Deep love + solidarity,

Ria Pal