Wednesday, April 11th 2018
This past week I attended Charles R Drew's 8th Annual Networking Dinner. This event is an opportunity to dine and network with doctors and professionals in various fields. I was looking forward to it for weeks and the event certainly surpassed my expectations.
"Your Network is your NetWORTH"
I truly believe in this quote, through my time in college thus far I've learned so much about networking and conversing with professors, professionals, and anyone you met. You will be forming connections to use for recommendation letter and will be able to learn from their experiences and hear the advice they are most likely eager to give. For these reasons I truly enjoy the opportunity to speak to people in the medical field. I may be a freshman but its never too early to start learning, connecting, and networking. That way when med-school applications start in 3-4 years I hope to have a strong lists of people who know me and my potential.
The Event
The event started with a Meet & Greet session in which students were able to start conversing with the professionals. At this point, I was helping by leading guests to their seats as they arrived.
Next we were welcomed by the CRD Co-presidents and the vice-president who was in charge of putting this wonderful event together. I sat at the table with a family physician who gave me some great insight. Of the doctors who attended the event, I thought the family physician would be closest career to OB/GYN. As a family physician she is able to see pregnant women and is also certified to deliver babies. After hearing about some of the similarities between the two careers I felt more open to the idea of family medicine!
After eating some delicious dinner, we had the pleasure of listening to our keynote speaker of the night: Dr. Borish Lushniak, former Surgeon General and Dean of the School of Public Health. He was so lively and walked around the room as he spoke, making connections with everyone in the room as he did so. His story was so inspiring and touching that my summary will not do justice, but I would still like to highlight some of my favorite parts.
Dr. Lushniak is the child of immigrants, his parents lived through World War II and moved to America, the land of opportunity. His dad worked in a factory and he grew up in a small community in New York. He received a master's degree and medical degree as a first generation student. I think one of the inspiring parts of his story was how open he was in his life to new opportunities, as he went from medicine, to working with the CDC, to becoming the Surgeon General. I thought this was so important because often times there are so many opportunities available for us and the only thing stopping us from taking them is... fear!
He spoke about this too, saying that yes, he was scared many times in his life! But he didn't let fear paralyze him! He also spoke on the challenging journey that a career in medicine is through a metaphor. Through his job, he set up a hospital in Africa to care for citizens during the Ebola outbreak. The center had a large fence covered with tarp...you couldn't see out and no one could see in. One day, his officers built a structure similar to life-guard chair and told him to climb it. When he reached the top he was able to see over the tarp and see the beauty that is Africa! He was able to see the village of people they were treating. He was able to see what all his work was for. He told us that this is what going into the field of medicine is like, there will be years of hard work and often times the light at the end of the tunnel is very dim. But we will each have a moment in which we will see over the tarp, the time which we are able to do what we all thrive to do...help people! Save a life. Help someone to be healthy...I can't wait for my moment!
Outfit
For this event, I wore this knee length pencil skirt in a beautiful royal blue color and paired it with a formal white blouse. I love the peplum on the end of the skirt and the similar effect that my blouse had. This outfit was fashionable while still looking professional and was appropriate for this event.I finished off the look with my Anne Klein purse and black flats. My hair was done by blowing it out and then twisting it with rods the night before.
My skirt and blouse are from T's Closet. (Located on Front Street, Philipsburg St. Maarten)
Hope you enjoyed the post,
xoxo
Kye