Beginning this year of service, I was a little bit nervous. As someone pretty new to the world of public health (I wasn't pre-med, I took exactly 1 class about health issues in college, and none of the volunteer/service work I'd done in the past had been for hospitals, clinics, or other health providers), I was excited to start something new this year, but also stressed out! I couldn't help but think,'My position describes me as a Health Educator, but how am I qualified??" For this reason, it was especially exciting and comforting to get to know my fellow Corps members, specifically the other four who will be serving with Erie Family Health Centers across Chicago.
Having the built-in support of the other members is amazing. We have been serving at our host sites for about a month, and technically, I am the only AmeriCorps member at my location, the Erie Family Health Center located within Lake View High School (LVHS). However, I regularly meet with other folks serving at Erie to participate in trainings or to complete some sort of project together. Just this past week, I organized a booth in the LVHS lunchroom to promote eating more fruits and vegetables. My fellow NHC Chicago Health Educator, Patricia Braboy, joined me for my lunchroom promotion. I felt so reassured knowing that Patricia was serving next to me—we had more fun and we were able to reach more students working together.
Looking forward, I know that I will continue to serve with the other NHC members at Erie Family Health, and I am so enthusiastic about it! I am excited to teach classes about sexual health, set up more lunchroom promotions, and help patients apply for Medicaid or Marketplace insurance together. I operate best when I have a team to support me and keep me accountable. Knowing that I am not in this alone, but that I have four partners in service, helps relieve some of my anxiety. This will be a year of firsts, and I'm glad I'll be experiencing these firsts with a team.
This blog post was written by NHC Chicago 2016-17 member Bryan Jonke.
Beginning this year of service, I was a little bit nervous. As someone pretty new to the world of public health (I wasn't pre-med, I took exactly 1 class about health issues in college, and none of the volunteer/service work I'd done in the past had been for hospitals, clinics, or other health providers), I was excited to start something new this year, but also stressed out! I couldn't help but think,'My position describes me as a Health Educator, but how am I qualified??" For this reason, it was especially exciting and comforting to get to know my fellow Corps members, specifically the other four who will be serving with Erie Family Health Centers across Chicago.
