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| Pictured with Dr. Antonia Novello, 14th United States Surgeon General |
Yesterday, I had the amazing
honor of introducing Dr. Antonia Novello, the 14th Surgeon General
of the United States to my school! Not only was she the first woman AND
Hispanic to hold the position, but that's just one huge accomplishment out of a
long list of many that includes being the New York State Health Commissioner
during 9/11. She is such an inspiration, and the lecture she gave was really
powerful and on point!
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| My daughter and Dr. Novello loved each other! |
The evening before Dr.
Novello came to my school, I had the opportunity to join a group of student
leaders in having an informal dinner with her. I almost did not attend the
dinner because I had a major exam yesterday morning to prepare for, and I also had
a conference call Sunday night that conflicted with the dinner. At the last
minute, I decided I would stop by to introduce myself and I asked if it would
be OK to bring along my daughter (which received no objections) since I did not
get a babysitter due to my original conflicts. The dinner ended up starting
earlier than planned, so I was actually able to stay for the entire time, and I
was so glad I brought my daughter because Dr. Novello loves children! My
daughter also Googled Dr. Novello prior to the dinner and wrote a list of
questions for her to answer, which apparently surprised everyone, lol. They
ended up talking and taking pictures together, and now my daughter is super
inspired to go into medicine.
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| Always an honor to introduce amazing individuals |
As for the actual GA-PCOM
Diversity Speaker Series, Dr. Novello gave a very powerful speech that focused
on the disparities between minorities in both a personal healthcare aspect, and
in a medical profession aspect. It was shocking to hear the small number of black men there are entering into medical school, and the fact that black women make up the
largest number of applicants to medical school, but the number accepted
absolutely does not reflect it. It definitely hit a nerve with me, and made me
even more determined to become a leader in healthcare, so that I can be a part
of the change that is desperately needed. I especially liked the ten principles
to live by that she added at the end of her speech. I was not writing as she
spoke, so the bolded below was taken from a blurb about the event on the
GA-PCOM Facebook page:
“She
discussed her 10 principles, born from her experience, that have helped her in
her life journey. They include: 10) Be a pioneer. Don't be afraid to forge into
new directions; 9) Do not deny your roots as you walk the ladder of success; 8)
Never underestimate your capabilities; others will do it for you; 7) Achieve
the highest level of education - it is the key to the door of opportunity; 6)
Set goals for yourself and when doing so, make them realistic and then share
them with those who believe in you. It's amazing what you can accomplish if you
do not care who gets the credit; 5) When you get to the top, don't forget you
owe something back to your peers, your family and your community; 4) Don't be
afraid to speak your mind; 3) Take care of yourself spiritually, physically and
mentally; 2) Never lose your sense of who you really are, even when others
believe they know you better than you know yourself; and 1) Plan big and dream
greatness.”
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| Dr. Novello's note to my daughter. Such an amazing gift!!!! |
I honestly wish I could get
a transcript of the entire speech, because it was really good and by far, one of my favorites!
Afterwards, we all presented Dr. Novello with gifts from the different student
organizations, and she was really happy to receive a framed group picture of
all of us from the night before. She made it a point to mention my daughter to
the crowd and how impressed she was by her, so you know this made me an extremely proud momma! I even made sure to give Dr. Novello pictures of her and my daughter from
the night before as she requested, and she returned one of the smaller pics to
me with a note for my daughter that really made my day. I am definitely going
to have it framed, and I know it is something that my little one will cherish
forever :-) This will be added to the list of one of my most memorable moments
as a GA-PCOM student, and I am so incredibly blessed to have wonderful opportunities
like this, AND be blessed to have the ability to expose my child to great people and
experiences at the same time.
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| GA-PCOM SNMA Leaders |
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