Hey guys! I'm Maria. To tell you a little bit about myself, I have lived in Evanston/Chicago for the last 5 years, I'm an EMT, and I hold the controversial opinion that you can be both a cat person and a dog person, although right now I just have a cat. (His name is Murphy). I love pizza, watching depressing television like Handmaid's Tale and Grey's Anatomy, and repeatedly trying to be a person with houseplants despite the fact that they always die after like 5 weeks.
I am super excited about starting this service year. I have known that I want to make a difference in healthcare since high school, when a close family member got very sick and I acted as her caregiver. Since then I have studied public health in India, practiced community-based research at a health clinic in rural West Virginia, worked for a startup addiction treatment app, volunteered for hospice, and worked the Chicago streets as an EMT-B. I think my experiences have given me a lot of exposure to the massive problems facing our healthcare system not only in America, but globally. With that being said, I'm looking for some direction. I know I want to be a nurse, but I'm not sure what kind yet. I'm hoping that with this year I will gain even more experience in the field of public health as well as some clarity in regards to what area of healthcare I am best equipped to serve.
This blog post was written by NHC Chicago 2018-19 member Maria Clark.
