A quick hello from the Sunflower state

If there's one thing that absolutely terrifies me about graduating, it's the possibility of somehow turning mushy - intellectually, that is. I miss writing my column in the TD (I have for months), and I feel a general sense of loneliness when I don't write incessantly. Ergo, this blog.

This summer, I was fortunate to find an amazing internship with the Region VII DHHS Office of Minority Health. My boss is phenomenal, and I think I'll learn quite a bit. The other intern has a unique take on some of the social justice issues we deal with at OMH, and I'm already learning a great deal from her. This intern, whom I'll describe in anonymity, comes from a turbulent family, was on the streets at age 13 and has had a myriad of health problems thrown her way (which I personally suspect were the result of prenatal narcotic or alcohol use) . Lately I've been oscillating between crushing depression (over the Fulbright) and a strange sense of post-graduation euphoria (I have a BA!). Speaking to this other intern helps to put things into perspective - I have an amazing family, close friends back home, no student loans, and the growing ability to think critically about issues affecting the world. For all of my frustration and sadness with the post-graduation job hunt, I am, at the end of the day, so very very very fortunate.

On Wednesday, my boss took myself and the other intern (I'll just refer to my boss as Suzy and the other intern as Molly - not their real names) to a meeting on the topic of cultural competency in healthcare. We spent a long time discussing what it means to have cultural competence, and whether or not it's productive to even use the term "competence." Does that imply that I'm open-minded and have reached an "end point" once I learn to recognize and minimize racism and discrimination? Or might it be more productive to frame competence in terms of an ongoing process?

The discussion reminds me of the UN's gender mainstreaming initiative. Since mainstreaming was viewed as a journey with a start and an end, it has now become "sidestreaming" (as one smart woman who's name eludes me so eloquently put it). Despite the UN's best efforts to integrate gender concerns into the heart of the UN's mission, those efforts are now used to argue that gender mainstreaming has been accomplished. Quite the opposite.

In order to avoid the UN's mistake, I think it's important to view cultural competence and the battle against discrimination as ongoing and perhaps unattainable. Some things are always and will always be out of reach, but we should still strive to achieve them.

In other news, the AmeriCorps process is proceeding...haltingly. I'm looking at positions in Washington State, the Twin Cities, and Oregon. I'm not exactly sure how I'll live on 800/month in a place like Washington, but at least the work is meaningful and gives me a chance to research/think. I suppose I would rather be poor than bored.

Off to get a good night's sleep for the mosque tomorrow morning!